Top government officials showed their indecision Thursday with inconsistent comments over an application for a visa to visit Japan by former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui.

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seishiro Eto said Thursday that Lee applied for a visa to Japan on Tuesday, the first senior Japanese government official to acknowledge the application had been filed.

Eto told a press conference he has confirmed that Lee's proxy submitted the application along with a medical certificate at 11 a.m. Tuesday to Shintaro Yamashita, head of the Interchange Association in Taipei and Japan's top representative to Taiwan.