Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Monday refused to reveal further details of a comment she reportedly made to her Chinese counterpart earlier this month that Japan will not issue another entry visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.
"I will not disclose the conversation word for word, as diplomatic issues involve another nation," Tanaka told a meeting of the Upper House Budget Committee.
Tanaka merely said she had told her Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan, that Tokyo will "carefully deal with the matter," in line with the 1972 Japan-China joint declaration that normalized bilateral ties.