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Japan Welcomes Lee, Gives China Fits
Japan said on Monday it would issue a visa as scheduled for former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to visit for sightseeing despite angry protests from China."How do ya like them soybeans, eh?" Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have already been chilled by a string of disputes, including one over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honored with other Japanese war dead. Not bright to piss Japan off - they can play hardball and they've got long memories, too. "We plan to issue a visa as scheduled," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters. He did not say when the visa would be issued for the outspoken Lee. And that's that, bubb. Beijing, which sees self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as a renegade Chinese province, has lodged a protest with Japan over its decision to let Lee visit and urged Tokyo to scrap the plan. "But, but you can't do that! You'll ruin everything!" The 81-year-old Lee and his family are expected to arrive in Nagoya in central Japan on Dec. 27 and visit hot springs before leaving for home on Dec. 31, Japanese media said. Hosoda urged media not to follow Lee and report about his trip as his journey was "private" with no political intentions. Take a chill pill, Mr Whiney Dragon... Lee tried to raise Taiwan's diplomatic profile during his 12 years as president, redefining the island's ties with China as "special state-to-state" relations in 1999 and causing Beijing to break off fence-mending negotiations to this day. "He was impossible! He considered us as mere peers!" Lee stepped down as president in 2000 and became "spiritual leader" of a new party with an avid pro-independence stance. Lee last came to Japan in 2001 for medical treatment, triggering an angry response from Beijing. China pretty much defines faithless friend, obnoxious neighbor, and obvious foe. Posted by: .com 2004-12-20 |
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