THE visit to Dublin today of Mr Lien Chan, the Vice President and Prime Minister of Taiwan, makes Ireland the latest battle ground in a diplomatic war between China and Taiwan over international recognition of the Taiwanese government.
Mr Lien's visit to Ireland was revealed yesterday by the Independent Morning Post in Taipei, the Taiwan capital. It said that the Premier, who met Pope John Paul in the Vatican earlier this week, would visit Trinity College, Dublin this morning and meet the Provost, Prof Tom Mitchell.
Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, routinely protests to any state which gives entry visas to Taiwan ministers.
A world wide cat and mouse game has developed in which Taiwan officials travelling abroad do not reveal their destination in advance to prevent Beijing engaging in spoiling tactics.
The paper also reported that a meeting with Irish ministers had not been ruled out, but the Irish Ambassador to China, Mr Joe Hayes, said yesterday in Beijing that Mr Lien "will not meet members of the Government or have any contact with Government officials".
He said: "An Irish transit visa was granted to Mr Lien in his capacity as a private citizen. From the perspective of the Government of Ireland, there is no official character to his visit, nor does any official character attach to his activities while he is in the State. As with any other visitor, he is free to go where he pleases and meet whomsoever he chooses."
Beijing reacted with fury when the United States granted a transit visa to President Lee of Taiwan in June 1955. It withdrew its ambassador from the US and staged military exercises in the East China Sea facing Taiwan.
It subsequently began its worldwide diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, which broke from China at the time of the 1947 communist revolution, when Taiwan persuaded Sierra Leone to switch its embassy from Beijing to Taipei.
Up to late last night the Foreign Ministry in Beijing had no comment to make on Mr Lien's visit to Ireland, which has full diplomatic relations with China and maintains only a trade office in Taipei staffed with local officials.
China, which protested strongly about the Pope's meeting with Mr Lien, showed recently the lengths it is prepared to go to counter Taiwan's quest for world recognition, which grows increasingly desperate as China grows into an economic superpower.
Last week it used its Security Council veto for the first time to stop the dispatch of 155 United Nations observers to monitor a Guatemala peace accord ending a 30 year civil war, because Guatemala recognises Taipei's exiled Republic of China rather than the People's Republic of China.
A Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned China using its influence in the Security Council "to interfere in the internal affairs of Central and South American countries".
Chinese diplomats were reported yesterday to be trying to persuade Guatemala to follow South Africa's recent example and sever ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing. South African President Nelson Mandela shocked Taiwan in November by pledging to move its diplomatic mission to China this year. It was one of only 30 states which today recognise Taipei rather than Beijing.
"We are facing tremendous pressure on the diplomatic front," a Taiwan government official was quoted as saying yesterday. Communist China can use its power at the Security Council to force Guatemala to make certain concessions. It will depend on how badly Guatemala wants the UN peace keepers. The Security Council seat is a very powerful weapon.
In an attempt to strengthen the diplomatic embargo around the island, China has been pressuring Taiwan's allies, mainly poor African and South American states which receive aid from Taipei, to change sides. The foreign ministers of China and Taiwan have been touring Africa separately this week in the drive to win friends and influence nations.