Taiwan's Lee urges closer Tokyo-Taipei ties

Tokyo, June 1: Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui risked the anger of Beijing today by calling for closer ties between Taiwan and Japan, but sidestepped the touchy topic of whether he would visit a Tokyo war shrine.

China warned yesterday that Japan risked harming a recent rapprochement by allowing the visit by Lee, who is despised by Beijing for asserting self-ruled Taiwan's sovereignty.

China considers Taiwan, which Japan colonised for half a century up to 1945, as its sovereign territory.

The 84-year-old Lee said on arrival on Wednesday that he wanted to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

His elder brother died fighting for the Japanese during World War Two and is among the war dead honoured at the shrine along with Japanese leaders who were convicted as war criminals.

Lee, who was educated in Japan and led Taiwan from 1988 to 2000, urged close future ties between Tokyo and Taipei, which do not have formal diplomatic ties. Some conservative Japanese politicians favour closer relations.

''Japan and Taiwan are like the same body what happens in Taiwan will soon have an impact on Japan, too,'' he told a news conference, speaking fluent Japanese.

''Even without political connections, I believe Japan should conduct relations with Taiwan from the standpoint that the existence of Taiwan is essential for it.'' Japan says Lee's 11-day stay is for tourism only, but China said yesterday the trip would hurt Sino-Japanese ties, which have recently warmed after a chill induced by then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni from 2001-2006.

''We feel strongly dissatisfied with Japan for allowing Lee to visit the country,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference in Beijing yesterday.

Today, Lee received a prize in memory of Japanese colonial administrator Shinpei Goto, whom he praised for his contributions to Taiwan. Lee, who is accompanied by his wife, will tour Japanese temples throughout the country before ending his trip in Tokyo.

Reuters>