Tokyo should allow former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to visit Japan as a private citizen this year, Taiwan's new top representative to Japan has urged.
Lee's trip could follow the pattern observed during the recent visit to Japan by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Lo Fu-chen said in an interview Friday -- the day after assuming his new post.
"That would be sufficient (for Lee)," he said.
Afraid of angering Beijing, which has branded the Tibetan leader a separatist, Japan granted the Dalai Lama an entry visa on condition that he not engage in political activities while in the country.