China doesn't like it that the United States has given Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian a visa for a stopover in Los Angeles today on his way to the Caribbean.
A less subtle reaction caused by the seemingly innocuous visit of Chen to the L.A. International Airport transit lounge is the nervousness caused in Tokyo, where bureaucrats are mulling preparations for an official visit to Japan by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in the fall.
The complication in Japanese eyes is that former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui also wants to make a visit to Japan his year, possibly to his alma mater, Kyoto University.