Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui is now on a "private" visit to Japan with a visa the Japanese government issued after days of vacillation -- and with strings attached: Mr. Lee should stay in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, where he will get a medical checkup, and should not conduct any political activities during his stay. He arrived here on Sunday for a five-day visit.

The government's attitude toward Mr. Lee's visa application flip-flopped, exposing the diplomatic dilemmas Japan faces in its relations with China and Taiwan. In the end, the outgoing administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori decided to approve Mr. Lee's application on humanitarian grounds, overriding strong objections from Beijing. When we look back at the visit some time in the future, the decision may turn out to have been a turning point.

China occupies a central position in Japan's Asian diplomacy, and the Taiwan issue is key to Japanese diplomacy toward China. So far, Japan has "taken a servile attitude toward China, always looking for its reaction," a Foreign Ministry official who supports Mr. Lee's visit is reported as saying. That attitude will likely change -- at least it will become more balanced. Contributing to that likelihood is the fact that an increasing number of Japanese are beginning to feel uneasy about China's projection of power.