Beijing stifles Taiwan's travel plans

Earlier this week, Taiwan Vice-President Annette Lu, a vocal pro-independence politician, was denied entry to Jakarta on a "holiday trip" to Indonesia

(CNN) -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian is persevering with plans to visit Southeast Asia and other regions despite efforts from Beijing to contain Taipei's diplomatic leverage.

Diplomatic sources in Taipei said Chen's staff were sounding out countries including Indonesia and Malaysia about a forthcoming "informal visit."

Beijing is putting pressure on Southeast Asian countries, which are major beneficiaries of Taiwan investments, to shut the door to senior Taiwan officials.

Earlier this week, Taiwan Vice-President Annette Lu, a vocal pro-independence politician, was denied entry to Jakarta on a "holiday trip" to Indonesia.

She was only allowed to spend time in Bali and was denied opportunities to meet Indonesian officials.

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The Taipei media on Friday quoted diplomats from Indonesia and Malaysia as saying they were not aware of Chen's visit.

Despite his apparent commitment to improving ties with Beijing, Chen has indicated his administration's decision to "expand [Taiwan's] diplomatic breathing space."

Senior Taiwan ministers have since the late 1990s been able to visit countries that recognize China under the guise of vacationing or making transit stops.

Visit to America difficult

Taipei analysts say since U.S. officials have dropped strong hints that it will be difficult for Chen to visit America in the coming year, the Taiwan leader is focusing on countries in Asia and Europe.

Meanwhile, all Beijing-based papers on Friday ran a commentary by the official Xinhua news agency branding both Chen and his supposed mentor, former president Lee Teng-hui, as "troublemakers."

"Lee and Chen are using each other to create new troubles to jeopardize cross-strait relations and regional stability," the article says.

Since Chen's controversial remarks earlier this month on Taiwan and China being countries on different sides of the Taiwan Strait, Beijing has run a series of hard-hitting articles criticizing Chen by name.

The Xinhua article urged Chen to stop working with Lee, regarded by Beijing as the godfather of Taiwan independence.

Hinting that it is still not too late for Chen to make amends, the commentary urged the Taiwan leader to "retract his statement of 'one country on each side'."