Threat to Games persists after Lee's climbdown

Threat to Games persists after Lee's climbdown

TAIPEI (AFP): President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan yesterday officially scrapped a controversial plan to attend next month's Asian Games in Japan, but the move did not appear to lessen the threat of a Chinese boycott of the prestige event.

With less than two weeks left before the opening ceremonies, Lee's office announced in a statement that "serious political interference has meant President Lee is unable to go to the Games."

It angrily accused Beijing, saying "China's forceful intervention into (the realm of) sports has infringed the sporting ethic."

The Taiwanese authorities remained determined, however, that Vice Prime Minister Hsu Li-teh would lead a ministerial delegation to Asia's biggest sporting event in Hiroshima, Japan from Oct. 2 to 16.

Hsu, Education Minister Kuo Wei-fan and Kuo Tzung-ching, head of the Taiwan Sports Federation are to lobby for Taipei to host the 2002 Asian Games.

But their planned presence has drawn as much criticism from China as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) invitation to the Taiwanese leader.

Chang Feng-shu, chairman of the Taiwanese National Olympic Committee, said Hsu would go to Hiroshima, no matter how much Chinese pressure was exerted.

After Lee was invited by OCA president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad of Kuwait, Beijing gave warnings of "political troubles" for the Games. Chinese sporting officials raised the likelihood of a boycott.

But last week the OCA put a ban on "political figures" at Hiroshima, which effectively revoked the invitation.

The president said the presence of officials and athletes in Hiroshima would still emphasize the existence of Taiwan.

"Whether I can make the trip or not is not important," he said. "The point is, through these efforts, we can show the world the existence of this country, that we strive to achieve political liberalization and economic prosperity," Lee told members of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party.

Impact

China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, repeatedly warned Japan that the presence of any Taiwanese leader in Hiroshima during the Games would have a grave impact on relations.

The Hiroshima organizers and Japanese government have desperately sought a way out of the diplomatic storm. The government reportedly even considered refusing Lee permission to enter the country.

The authorities in Beijing gave no indication Monday that Lee's climbdown would cause them to scrap their veiled threat of a boycott. Chinese officials last week repeatedly warned that any Taiwanese government presence at the Games would be "unacceptable" to China.

However, no threat has been made officially. The Chinese Sports Commission said Monday that preparations for the Games were going ahead on schedule, and Xinhua news agency filed a long story entitled "Chinese athletes ready for Asian Games."

China's absence would be a huge blow to the Games, for which Hiroshima has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in preparations.

A Kuomintang group had been campaigning for Japan not to bow to Chinese pressure. Annette Lu, an MP for the Democratic Progressive Party, launched a group named "the Coalition to Send President Lee to Japan" and there were even calls for a protest boycott of Japanese goods.

But the president's statement sought to calm the storm, calling on the public to take a "normal and rational attitude" toward the controversy.

The National Olympic Committee chairman said: "We deplore the fact that a few OCA members, out of political motives, have tried to interfere with the invitation, thus blocking President Lee's trip to Hiroshima and turning a simple sports event into a political issue."

But he added that the Japanese authorities have now been formally informed of Lee's withdrawal.

Chang said his committee should be allowed to take part in OCA activities on an equal footing with other members.