TOKYO (AP) – Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui reiterated that the island is independent of China and slammed Beijing about its criticism of his visit to a Tokyo war shrine as he wrapped up a visit to Japan on Saturday.

A Chinese man, apparently angry over his remarks, hurled a plastic bottle at Lee at Tokyo’s international airport as he arrived to board his return flight, police said. The bottle missed its mark and the man was arrested on the spot.

China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened war if the self-governing island tries to formalize its de facto independence, has accused Mr. Lee of using his Japan visit to push for independence. Lee has defended his visit as a “private event.”

Beijing also rebuked Japan after Mr. Lee visited Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead and is a source of friction between Beijing and Tokyo.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Mr. Lee reiterated Taiwan’s independence.

“Taiwan is already an independent country,” Mr. Lee said. “It is natural that the Taiwanese people clearly assert that Taiwan is theirs, and that Taiwan is an independent country based on peace and democracy.”

He also accused Beijing of overreacting to his recent pilgrimage to Yasukuni, and of using the issue to divert attention from problems at home.

Taiwan is a former Japanese colony and Mr. Lee’s elder brother, who was killed in 1945 while serving with Japan’s navy during World War II, is listed among the 2.5 million war dead honored at Yasukuni.

Mr. Lee said that because his family never received his brother’s remains, he did not have another place to commemorate him and that a visit to the shrine was an appropriate way to pay respects.

China views the shrine as a glorification of Japan’s militaristic past, because it also enshrines executed war criminals, and strongly objects to public figures visiting the site.

Yasukuni has been a frequent flash point between Japan and China, which suffered under Japanese colonial rule.

“The Yasukuni problem was invented by the Chinese and Koreans because they could not deal with problems in their own country,” Mr. Lee said.

“I see no problem with countries honoring young soldiers who gave their lives for their country,” he said. “That is not something that foreign governments should criticize.”

Later Saturday, a Chinese man was arrested after throwing a plastic bottle at Lee at Narita International Airport, according to police official Takeaki Akaike. Mr. Lee was unhurt in the incident, Akaike said.

Mr. Lee served as Taiwan’s president from 1988 to 2000. He has been a strong critic of Beijing, which continues to claim sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan more than five decades after the two sides split during a civil war.