China holds Japanese for harming national security

TOKYO: China is investigating a Japanese citizen on suspicion of endangering national security, Japan’s Kyodo news agency cited the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying on Friday.

The man, in his late 50s, was scheduled to stay in Beijing for five days through July 15, but did not return to Japan and has not answered his mobile phone, Kyodo cited Japanese government sources and others as saying.

The Japanese government said on Thursday that a Japanese man was detained in China. It however did not say on what charges.

When asked whether he was suspected of spying, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan did not engage in espionage against any country.

Relations between the countries are strained by a territorial dispute and the legacy of Japan’s wartime aggression.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of already strict security measures, including setting up a new national security commission and renaming the national security law, which took effect in 1993, the Counterespionage Law.

At least two Japanese citizens were arrested on suspicion of espionage last year.

In 2010, four Japanese nationals were temporarily detained in China on suspicion of entering a military zone and taking photographs without permission. The detentions came at a time of escalating tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over a group of East China Sea islets that both countries claim.