Astellas employee detained for long period of time China’s “hard-line anti-Japan measures,” including suspension of seafood imports and Senkaku buoys…Unusual response: “Japan-China parliamentary group visiting China urges ‘samurai spirit’ to resolve the issue.
In March of last year, a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma Inc. in his 50s was detained in Beijing, and it was learned that Chinese prosecutors had charged him with “espionage. A Japanese government official revealed this on April 21. Since the man was detained, the Japanese government has continued to push for his early release, but this has not materialized. Amid the bizarre response by China, including the suspension of imports of Japanese marine products over treated water from nuclear power plants, the nonpartisan Japan-China Parliamentary League for Friendship will visit China starting on March 27. Pundits point out that we should strongly press for a solution with the “samurai spirit.
The indictment will lead to trial proceedings for the men, and prolonged detention is expected to be unavoidable. A spokesperson for Astellas said, “It is true that he has been indicted. Since the trial is still pending, we would like to refrain from further comment,” he said.
According to Japanese government officials, Japanese embassy staff in China conducted the 16th consular visit to the man on July 23. The man has an underlying condition of high blood pressure, but the Japanese side has provided him with medication and his condition is now stable.
Since 2014, 17 Japanese nationals, including the man, have been detained, and five remain in China at this time. The Xi administration continues to strengthen its surveillance of foreigners and foreign-invested companies, enforcing a revised Anti-Spying Law last July and a revised State Secrets Protection Law in May of this year.
China’s “anti-Japanese activities” are not limited to this case.
Evening Bulletin
Following the start of the ocean discharge of treated water from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant last August, China enforced and continues to enforce measures to suspend imports of Japanese marine products. It has not responded to demands for the removal of buoys placed without permission in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
Against this backdrop, the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentary Union will be visiting China from March 27 to 29. The group is expected to be joined by Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Yuko Obuchi, chairperson of the party’s election campaign committee.
150 years ago, Toshimichi Okubo was a strong negotiator.
How should the Diet members confront China?
Critic Masahiro Miyazaki says, “With the domestic economy in decline and society at a standstill, the ‘anti-Japanese act’ has become a way of venting. China is calling the treated water from the nuclear power plant ‘contaminated water,’ and a large number of Chinese fishing boats are flooding into the waters near Japan, so what China is doing is a mess. 150 years ago, Toshimichi Okubo was a strong negotiator with the then Qing Dynasty. Diplomats of that time had the “samurai spirit. Today, Japan may not be able to conduct strong negotiations without the backing of military power, but we should press for a solution with the ‘samurai spirit.
Yukan Fuji
