Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee, currently on a week-long visit to Japan with his wife Tsen Wen-hui (
He was, however, reportedly turned away at the door by the school on the grounds that his police escorts were barred from entering the campus under a university law.
A Chinese-language newspaper said the university's large number of Chinese students had prepared to protest once Lee set foot on the campus, raising security concerns.
Lee's Japan visit has drawn strong protests from China, which called Tokyo's decision to issue Lee a visa a "rude" interference in its internal affairs. Beijing brands Lee a "separatist" who is pushing for formal independence for Taiwan, which separated from China in 1949 but is considered by Beijing as part of its territory.
Lee, who was president for 12 years until 2000, last went to Japan in April 2001 for medical treatment. Beijing filed a strong protest to Tokyo over that visit.
Tokyo switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1972 and has since barred official contact with Taiwan, a position it says is not changed by the granting of a visa to Lee.
Upon his arrival in Kyoto yesterday, Lee was welcomed by a crowd of supporters who waved either Japan's national flag or party flags of the Democratic Progressive Party.
While in Kyoto, Lee yesterday also visited one of his former professors who is now 98 years old. Lee and his family intended to spend their New Year in the ancient city of Kyoto before flying back from Osaka to Taipei tomorrow.
China's deputy foreign mininster said Thursday that China was considering banning Japanese companies from taking part in bidding for a contract to build a multi-billion dollar high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai, in reprisal for Japan granting Lee a visa.
Also see story:
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS