2ND LD: China conveys 'strong dissatisfaction' to Japan over visa

Asian Political News, Dec 29, 2004

BEIJING, Dec. 22 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING COMMENTS)

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Koreshige Anami on Wednesday to convey China's ''strong dissatisfaction and protest'' over Japan's issuance of a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, the Japanese Embassy said.

But China did not demand the canceling of the entry visa, and called on Japan to prevent Lee from engaging in political activities during his visit, in a move indicating it will no longer try to prevent the trip from taking place, according to embassy officials.

Wu filed the protest in the hourlong meeting with Anami, saying Japan is disregarding China's ''solemn representations,'' the embassy said in a statement.

Calling Lee a ''leading figure'' in ''radical Taiwanese independence activities,'' Wu said he ''strongly requests'' that Lee not be allowed to engage in political acts during his stay in Japan, according to the statement.

Anami told Wu that Japan decided to allow Lee's visit to the country as a private citizen and a tourist after considering Japan's domestic laws as well as China's position, according to the embassy statement.

''We hope that the Chinese government will quietly deal with the situation, so that this visit as a tourist will not deviate from its original aim and assume political characteristics,'' Anami was quoted as saying.

A diplomatic source said that China's reactions indicate it does not want to play up the issue and complicate relations with Japan, which have already been strained with a long list of outstanding issues.

''Although the wording may sound strong, it suggests it wants to wait and see further developments,'' the source said.

Japan issued a visa to Lee, 81, on Tuesday. Lee, along with family members and doctor, is scheduled to visit Nagoya, Kanazawa and Kyoto from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.

Wu had also summoned Anami last Thursday, after Japan made the decision to issue the visa.

China considers Taiwan, which split after the 1949 end of the Chinese civil war, part of its territory awaiting reunification. China has vowed that a war would break out if the self-ruled island edges toward any permanently recognized separation from the mainland.

When Lee last visited Japan in April 2001, China responded by postponing a visit to Japan by Li Peng, who was then the head of China's legislature.

Lee grew up in Taiwan under Japanese rule, and later attended Kyoto University.

He headed the Nationalist Party in Taiwan from 1988 to 2000 and became Taiwan's first directly elected president in 1996. He advocated a distancing from China and resisted China's pressure to reunify.

The dispute over Lee's visa is the latest in a string of issues souring relations between Japan and China. China is particularly bothered by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.