China's foreign minister has warned Japan that if Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui visited Japan "in whatever name and whatever capacity," China-Japan relations would be "fundamentally" undermined.
Speaking to reporters at a special press conference Friday in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Tang Jiaxuan expressed hope the Japanese government would "see through the ulterior motives of (Taiwan President) Lee Teng-hui," whom Tang called "an advocate of the independence of Taiwan."
Tang was referring to recent statements made by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and some leading Liberal Democratic Party members that they might invite Lee to Japan after he steps down as Taiwan's leader following Taiwan's March 18 presidential election.
The maverick Ishihara, author of "The Japan that Can Say No," also inflamed China by pushing for the Dalai Lama to visit Japan next month.