Taipei's low-key diplomat speaks

If one were to ask 65-year-old Peng Run-tzu (彭榮次) about his occupation, he would probably say he's "an ordinary businessman," and mention little about his efforts in government-to-government diplomacy.

But following the recent trip of former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to Japan and Peng's accompanying efforts to negotiate with Japan's Foreign Ministry to help Lee to secure a visa, his hidden talents have become apparent to the general public.

Peng's ability may seem a bit mysterious, but the reason he has played such an important role is because of his extensive connections within Japanese political and business circles -- some of which can be traced back to the 1950s -- and simply because of Lee's trust in him.

"The old gentleman [Lee] really trusts him, so he can do a lot of things for him," said one source close to Peng.

Even when Peng accepted an interview with the Taipei Times on May 23rd, Lee rang him up to discuss the publication of the Mandarin version of a new book about teh former president, the President in the Tiger's Mouth, by Japanese writer Fuyuko Kamisada.

Sitting on a cozy sofa in his office, Peng, president of Taiwan Transportation Machinery Corp, recalled his first encounter with Lee back in March 1995.

"I told some of my friends that this first meeting [with Lee] would probably be the last one," Peng said as he had planned to tell Lee whatever was on his mind including his criticisms of the KMT.

"I never expected our relationship would last until today," Peng said.

In fact, it was renowned Japan-ese scholar Nakajima Mineo, organizer of the Asian Open Forum, who first recommended that Lee should meet Peng. Mineo handpicked Peng (and mentioned his name to Lee) inn view of Peng's active participation in the forum's seminars as someone who often "raised his hand to speak his mind" and Mineo's knowledge of Peng's "longstanding friendship" with officials within the Japanese foreign ministry.

advice ignored

But Lee, then the president of Taiwan, put aside Mineo's recommendation.

"He [Lee] was probably thinking, `why did Mineo want to introduce an ordinary businessman to me?' [He was] probably suspicious of me," Peng recalled, smiling.

Lee decided to meet Peng in person when the Japanese government asked Peng to work as a third party to pass a related message to the Taiwanese government concerning Lee's attempt to participate in the 1995 APEC summit scheduled to take place in Osaka that autumn.

During that first meeting with Lee, Peng passed a "message" from the Japanese side, which urged Taiwan to conduct prior consultations with Japan through informal and private communications before both pursued formal negotiations.

The outspoken Peng also asked Lee "lots of questions" and urged him to find someone to set up a hotline between Taipei and Tokyo.

tokyo hotline

"I urged Lee to find someone to establish a hotline for conducting diplomacy toward Japan. It's not going to work if you confront the tough with toughness [take too much of a direct approach] in dealing with Japan. The Japanese declined to be engaged in direct and open communications [with Taiwan], and they preferred secret ones," Peng said.

"I didn't say that I would do the job, but I urged him to find someone to set up the hotline," Peng added.

But when Peng represented Lee to negotiate with the Japanese side -- through telephone calls -- over Lee's visa this spring, Peng, in hindsight, indeed was the "hotline" between Taipei and Tokyo.