China holds two Japanese men on espionage charges

Two Japanese men have been arrested in China on suspicion of espionage, Japanese media has reported, citing an anonymous Tokyo official.

Sino-Japanese relations, colored by Japan’s occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two, have thawed since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Xi twice since last November.

Japan’s Asahi newspaper said the two Japanese are being held on a string of charges including violating China’s anti-espionage law introduced previous year. One was detained near a military facility in Zhejiang Province while the other was near the border between China and North Korea in Liaoning Province. The men, suspected to be in their 50s, were arrested separately while visiting China in May.

Japan confirmed the arrests and said they happened in May.

In terse answers at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Mr Suga avoided criticizing China and said Japanese diplomats in the country were assisting the two people, who he said are in custody. Earlier, Suga said that the Japanese government “absolutely (does) no such thing”, referring to sending spies to other countries.

Sandy Phan-Gillis has been detained for more than six months in China and is being investigated for “spying and stealing state secrets”, according to a statement that was released by her husband.

The detentions were seen as a retaliatory act because they came after the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain for ramming a Japan Coast Guard cutter in waters off the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. “I think both countries must make efforts to that end”, he said before speaking at the UN.

Mr Xi and Mr Abe didn’t hold official talks this week in New York, where they attended the United Nations General Assembly.

“China has already notified the Japanese side of the relevant situation”, he added, without elaborating.