Taiwanese president to meet Sultan in Yogya

Taiwanese president to meet Sultan in Yogya

Tarko Sudiarno and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jakarta

In what is likely to ruffle China's feathers again, Taiwan
President Chen Shui-bian is scheduled to visit Indonesia next
week and meet with Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono
X.

Sultan confirmed on Thursday that Taiwan's president will
arrive in Yogyakarta on Dec. 17 and hold a face-to-face meeting
with him in his personal capacity.

"I will receive him in my home, and I will let the Taiwan
business delegates meet their counterparts here to explore
cooperation," Sultan said when receiving David Jay Green, a
senior representative of the Asian Development Bank in Indonesia,
in his office in Yogyakarta.

Chen will be joined by some 90 businesspeople from Taiwan,
Sultan added.

However, the spokesman for the Taipei Economic and Trade
Office in Jakarta, Derek Hsu, could not confirm nor deny the
planned visit by Chen.

"I cannot confirm. I don't know... I am telling the truth,"
Derek told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The Indonesian government rejected on Friday a claim that
Chen's planned visit "is being officially arranged".

"The government of Indonesia, having established no diplomatic
relations with Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), does not expect any visit
by any political figure from Chinese Taipei," said a statement
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta.

However, it could not rule out that a "possible visit of
individuals for tourist purposes can take place at any time as
Indonesia never closes the possibilities for people-to-people
contacts with Chinese Taipei".

The government is also aware that the so-called "vacation
diplomacy" has been done by the authorities from Chinese Taipei,
on other occasions and in other places, to advance their
political and diplomatic agenda.

It recalls the previous attempt only a few months ago, in
August, when inconveniences were caused by a visit from Vice
President Annete Lu to Indonesia.

Jakarta stressed that it consistently adheres to its "One
China Policy" and recognizes Taiwan as an integral part of China.

Further, Sultan admitted that the central government had
prohibited ministers and other high-ranking officials including
those in the regions from welcoming the Taiwanese president and
his entourage.

The governor will defy that prohibition, despite a certain
political risk he and the Indonesian government may face, saying
he would talk to Chen personally.

"I understand the central government's policy if I welcome
Taiwan's president. But under such a current situation, should we
have to shun such delegates who want to invest in Yogyakarta," he
added.

Taiwan and Indonesia seriously irritated the Chinese
government when Vice President Lu came for her "vacation" in
August.

Lu arrived at the resort island of Bali on Aug. 14 as a
foreign tourist and reportedly met with Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea, and later had a meeting with
Golkar Party executives in Jakarta. Golkar is the second largest
party in Indonesia after President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

China protested to Jakarta for allowing Lu to visit the
country.