Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka came under fire over the weekend from both her ruling Liberal Democratic Party colleagues and opposition leaders over allegations that she told China earlier this month that Japan will not again issue an entry visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.
During the Upper House Budget Committee session today and on Tuesday, the opposition camp is expected to press Tanaka to clarify whether she made such a remark, and also ask Prime Minister Koizumi for his official stance on the issue.
Ichiro Ozawa, chief of the opposition Liberal Party, said Sunday that if Tanaka really made that statement, she apparently contradicted the policy of the Koizumi Cabinet.