A Taiwanese organization based in Tokyo on Sunday lodged a protest against Japanese publisher Shueisha for categorizing former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) under “China” in its collection on Asian figures.
To celebrate its 95th anniversary, the publisher is rolling out a 12-volume book featuring prominent Asian figures throughout history. The 12th volume is to be published in April next year. In it Lee is listed, along with former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), martial artist and actor Bruce Lee (李小龍) and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, under the category of China.
The All Japan Taiwanese Union in a statement said that Lee Teng-hui is deemed the “father of Taiwan’s democratization” and internationally is regarded as “Mr Democracy.”
Photo courtesy of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation
“To place him under the ‘China’ category is an obvious mistake,” the statement said, demanding that Shueisha correct the error.
In Taipei, Lee Teng-hui’s daughter, the chairwoman of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation, Annie Lee (李安妮), also issued a statement on Sunday, expressing regret that the Japanese publisher had listed her father under China.
“Lee Teng-hui is Taiwanese,” she said.
“Shueisha has a vast base of young readers, who will in the future be the pillars of Japanese society, hence the need to provide them with a correct understanding of history,” she said.
“All his life, my father, aside from striving for the democratization of Taiwan, cared deeply … [about] the relations between Taiwan and Japan, and had harbored strong expectations for Japan, hoping it would again have the confidence to lead Asia,” she said.
Japanese society is one that values character, facts and respect for humankind, Ann Lee said, adding that she hoped Shueisha would reconsider whether it was fitting to place Lee Teng-hui under the category of “China.”
She said she hoped that the collection would become a best-seller.
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