Japan urges China to release citizen detained in Beijing

Japan’s government urged China on Monday to release a Japanese man detained in Beijing this month for allegedly breaking domestic laws.

Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Tokyo’s embassy in Beijing was informed “this month that a Japanese man in his fifties was detained in Beijing for breaking China’s domestic laws.”

He gave no details on the man’s identity, nor his alleged crime, or when he had been arrested.

“Ever since we learned about this case, the Japanese government has been strongly urging the immediate release of this Japanese national,” Matsuno said.

He added that Tokyo was also seeking consular access to the man.

In October 2019, Chinese authorities detained a Japanese professor, reportedly on suspicion of spying. He was released and returned to Japan the following month.

And in March 2020, China’s foreign ministry said it had arrested a Chinese man reportedly working as a university professor in Japan, who they claimed had confessed to spying.

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