Taiwan vice president's visit only for tourism: Indonesia
Taiwan vice president's visit only for tourism: Indonesia
Agencies, Jakarta
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday that Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu was in the country purely for tourism and no official talks were planned.
The statement came after Beijing made "solemn representations" to the Indonesian government to protest the visit.
"There was a statement of concern from the Chinese embassy here and that is normal," he told reporters.
"They are worried that there are efforts to turn this (visit) into a diplomatic mission," Hassan said. "We reaffirm that this is not the case," the minister added.
Asked whether the Taiwanese vice president would meet with any Indonesian officials during her stay in the country, Wirayuda said: "There are no such things."
He also reiterated that Indonesia recognized the government in Beijing as the legimitate government of China.
Taiwanese officials in Indonesia said Lu flew to Bali on Wednesday after a short stopover at Jakarta airport, amid reports she was barred from visiting the city after pressure from Beijing.
Taiwanese media reported that Lu had intended to stay in Jakarta for two days and meet with ministerial level officials for discussions on environmental issues and economic cooperation.
On Thursday, Lu slammed China for trying to block her visit to Indonesia, whose foreign minister said Jakarta had not arranged the visit or any meetings for her.
In comments carried by Taiwan cable networks from Indonesia's resort island of Bali, a visibly angry Lu told reporters, "Travelling is my basic right. Mainland China can persecute mainland Chinese. It is not qualified and has no right to persecute others.
"Why won't mainland China let me go? What right does it have?" said Lu, who is reviled by Beijing for her pro-independence views.
Lu's trip comes less than two weeks after Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian said holding a referendum on formal independence from China was a "basic human right" and there was "one country on each side" of the Taiwan Strait, infuriating Beijing.
Beijing has threatened to attack the democratic, self-ruled island of 23 million if it formally declares independence.
In Taipei, the Taiwan government said in a statement seen on Thursday that Lu planned to meet tourism officials in Bali.
But Hassan told reporters on Thursday, "I first reaffirm that the government did not arrange the visit of Ms Lu...So therefore it is not correct that the government has arranged meetings between her and Indonesian officials, especially official meetings.
"We heard that Ms Lu was travelling to a third country, and for the trip she would need to make transit in Indonesia....That's why Ms Lu made transit in Bali."
He said the short-term visa Lu had used to enter the country did not affect Indonesia's One China policy that acknowledges Taiwan as an intergral part of the People's Republic of China.
Taipei and Beijing have been diplomatic and military rivals since they split at the end of a civil war in 1949, but their economies have become increasingly intertwined since. Indonesia has strong economic ties with both.