Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday departed for Japan on a one-week private visit, his sixth such trip in 14 years.
Lee said prior to his departure that he would use the opportunity to discuss with Japanese experts issues related to cancer treatment, solar photovoltaic energy and livestock breeding.
Accompanied by his wife, Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), and their two daughters, Anna Lee (李安娜) and Annie Lee (李安妮), the 91-year-old landed at Osaka airport.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
According to the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, which helped organize the trip, Lee will deliver a speech in Osaka today, before traveling to Tokyo on Sunday, where he is scheduled to give another speech and tour renewable energy facilities.
His last stop is in Hokkaido on Tuesday, where Lee is scheduled to visit livestock breeding and dairy businesses, the association said.
Lee, the nation’s first democratically elected president and an outspoken supporter of Taiwanese independence, last visited Japan in September 2009.
The current tour is Lee’s sixth visit to Japan since May 2000, when he retired after having been in office for 12 years.
The first Taiwan-born president, Lee spent 22 years under Japanese rule — from when he was born in 1923 until the period ended in 1945 — and has expressed affection for the nation’s former colonial ruler.
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