Beijing anger over US visa for Chen

The United States has approved a transit visa for Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, the US State Department said yesterday, triggering anger in Beijing.

Mr Chen, who will be on his way to the Caribbean, is to arrive in Los Angeles for an overnight stopover on August 13, before leaving the next day, Philip Reeker, a State Department spokesman said.

A mainland spokesman said Beijing had protested to Washington. "By giving this new Taiwan leader this comfortable treatment, the United States in our view is sending out some wrong signals to the pro-independence forces in Taiwan," said Chinese Embassy spokesman Zhang Yuanyuan. The Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Washington had made representations to the US to express their opposition to the transit stop, he said.

Mr Chen's arrival will coincide with last-minute preparations for the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles that begins on August 14, and many senior US officials, including President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, are expected there at the same time.

But Mr Reeker stressed that neither Mr Clinton nor Ms Albright would see Mr Chen during his stopover and that he would be received by Richard Bush, chief of the American Institute in Taiwan, the private group that handles relations between Washington and Taipei.

"There will be no meetings with administration officials," he said, adding that transit visas for Taiwan's senior leadership were granted only for the "safety, comfort and convenience of the traveller" on a "case-by-case basis".

Mr Reeker said earlier that Washington did not see Mr Chen's case causing any friction between Washington and Beijing. "We see no reason for the transit to have any impact on relations since it is consistent with longstanding US policy and practice," he said.

Mr Zhang said: "Even if these transit stops have happened many times before, it does not mean we like that . . . We are sure that this will be used by the Taiwan side to promote their agenda."

Meanwhile, former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui has been invited to a bilateral academic forum to be held in Japan in late October and has expressed an interest in attending, organisers said yesterday. The invitation to the Asia Open Forum will put Tokyo in the position of deciding whether to grant Mr Lee a visa.