World News | Japan calls for release of citizens jailed in China on espionage charges

Tokyo [Japan]Japan’s Kyodo News reported on March 27 that a senior spokesman said on Monday that Japan had requested the speedy release of a Japanese citizen currently detained in China and that he be allowed to speak with consular officials.

China said it had detained the man on suspicion of espionage.

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the man was accused of violating China’s anti-espionage law, but gave no details. The company verified that he was an employee of Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc.

At a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the Japanese government was in touch with the man’s relatives. He is in his 50s.

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This month, Chinese authorities notified the Japanese embassy in Beijing that they had detained a Japanese man in Beijing on suspicion of violating Chinese laws, spokesman Mao Zedong said, Kyodo news agency reported.

At a news conference in Beijing on Monday, Mao also said Japan “needs to do more” in light of such recent incidents, urging its residents not to attend such events and to better “educate” them. .

Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese government sources as saying the man had been detained by Chinese counterintelligence officials. According to a diplomatic source familiar with Japan-China relations, the incident has raised serious concerns as it could “deal an immeasurable blow” to relations between the two countries.

Responding to international concerns about the so-called vague and arbitrary application of China’s counterespionage law, Mao Zedong replied that “individuals who engage in illegal activities should know what kind of illegal activities they are engaging in.”

China has a tradition of keeping court proceedings and allegations involving national security secret. Even after the final ruling, details will not be released in most cases.

China will handle the Japanese businessman’s case, decide whether to release him and facilitate the Japanese embassy’s access to the citizen for consular purposes, the spokesman said. A source cited by Kyodo News said the man was arrested by Chinese authorities ahead of his planned return to Japan this month.

In order to safeguard national security, China has stepped up monitoring of foreign groups and individuals. Several foreigners have been detained since the anti-espionage and national security laws were implemented in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

The Astellas employee is one of 17 Japanese nationals imprisoned in China since 2014 on suspicion of espionage. Japan’s foreign ministry reported that five of them remained detained in China, according to Kyodo news agency. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)