New | Will he visit Yasukuni Shrine again? Ex-Taiwan president's Japan trip raises questions
Lee Teng-hui last visited Yasukuni in 2007 to pay respects to his brother
Former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui left for Japan on Friday for a seven-day vacation, triggering speculation on whether he would visit the controversial Yasukuni war shrine that has caused a diplomatic furore between mainland China and Japan.
Lee, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, was expected to arrive in Osaka on Saturday and would head to Tokyo on Sunday in what would be his sixth trip to Japan since he stepped down as president in 2000.
However, his office declined to comment on speculation that Lee might visit the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo where his brother is enshrined with Japan’s other war dead, including Class A war criminals.
Lee, who is Taiwan’s first directly elected leader who came to power in 1988 and ruled for 12 years, paid his respects to the war shrine in 2007, causing mainland China to express “strong dissatisfaction” with Japan.
Japanese President Shinzo Abe visited the shrine in December, prompting anger from China – with which it has historical and territorial dispute – and other countries. The event marked a low point in Sino-Japanese relations.
Lee’s itinerary says he will give a talk on cancer treatment in Osaka and Tokyo. The 91-year-old ex-president underwent surgery in February to remove cancerous cells from the lining of his mouth and was in hospital for pneumonia last November.
He has cardiovascular problems and has had several balloon angioplasty surgeries. He underwent surgery to remove a malignant colon tumour in November 2011.
The rest of his trip includes visits to a solar power station in Kanagawa, a dairy farm in Hokkaido and museums in Otaru before returning to Taiwan on Thursday.
His office also declined to reveal whether Lee would touch on the issue of a Japanese version of the Taiwan Relations Act in his talks.
The Taiwan Relations Act governs relations between Taiwan and the United States after Washington switched allegiance to Beijing in 1978.
Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province awaiting reunification. Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since they split amid a civil war in 1949.
Japan itself does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the proposed bill, championed by Abe’s younger brother Nobuo Kishi, seeks to normalise the unofficial ties.
Lee had planned to visit Japan in May last year but was forced to cancel at the last minute due to health reasons.
Growing up under Japanese rule in Taiwan, Lee developed an affinity for Japan even before he went to study at Kyoto Imperial University, now known as Kyoto University.
