China releases Japanese men arrested over 'illegal activities,' two still detained

Jul 27, 2017 | News On Japan

Jul 27, 2017 (Japan Times) - Four of six Japanese nationals detained in China in March for their suspected involvement in unspecified "illegal activities" are now back in Japan after having been released, Japan's top government spokesman said Thursday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, speaking in a daily press conference, refrained from commenting on why they were released or why they were detained in the first place "as others remain in custody."

"We are in contact with the Chinese authorities," he said. "The protection of Japanese nationals is the government's most important duty, and we are giving thorough support to those still in custody."

The news of the release of four of the men came after Chinese authorities informed Japan's consul general in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Wednesday of the release of two of them.

Three of the six men were detained in the eastern province of Shandong and the other three in the southern island province of Hainan.

NC Geophysical Survey Co., which is based in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, subsequently identified the two men as its employees who were detained in Shandong. It later said another of the freed Japanese is its employee who was detained in Hainan.

One of the two men still in detention is also believed to work for the survey company, which was operating in Shandong and Hainan after receiving orders from two Chinese hot spring developers to assist in geological assessments of sites in the two provinces.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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