Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday arrived in Tokyo for a six-day visit that includes a speech at the Diet building today.
Lee said he had no comment when asked by reporters about China allegedly pressuring the Japanese government not to allow him to deliver the speech.
However, “[China’s] opposition [to me giving a speech] will only make it a laughing stock,” he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The 92-year-old Lee’s two daughters and granddaughter are accompanying him on his trip. His 89-year-old wife, Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), had planned to go as well, but Lee said she decided against it because she was feeling unwell.
Lee is to spend the first three days of his trip in Tokyo, where he is scheduled to attend a banquet hosted by the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan and a banquet hosted by Japanese Diet members.
He is to head to Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture on Friday to tour a cancer hospital and then spend the night in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture.
On Saturday, Lee is scheduled to visit Zuiganji, a Zen Buddhist temple in Matsushima, while on Sunday he is to travel to Millennium Hope Hills, a seaside park in Iwanuma, where he is to pay his respects to those who lost their lives in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, before returning to Taipei.
This is Lee’s seventh visit to Japan since he left office. His last visit was in September last year.
Additional reporting by Chang Hsiao-ti
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