China releases Japanese professor detained for alleged spying

A Hokkaido University professor, Nobu Iwatani, who had been detained in China since September on suspicion of spying has been released and returned home on November 25. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga further confirmed that the professor was in good condition. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reportedly also said that the professor has confessed to illegally collecting state secrets. Apart from Iwatani, the Japanese media has reported that about 13 Japenese civilians have been detained in China on suspicion of engaging in spying activities. 

In the month of October, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested china to take positive actions in the case of the professor. Chief cabinet secretary of the Japanese government, Yoshihide Suga, had informed that the man, in his 40s, was held in Beijing on unspecified charges of a possible violation of Chinese law. According to Japanese media, the man is believed to be a former Japanese Defence Ministry researcher at National Institute for Defense Studies and has been accused of espionage. Suga said that they strongly requested China to take positive actions on the man detained but didn’t elaborate on the ‘positive actions’. He said that a similar message had been conveyed to China at various levels. 

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3 Taiwanese arrested on suspicion of committing subversion

Recently, China has also confirmed that it is holding three Taiwanese on suspicion of committing subversion or other crimes against the Chinese state. Shih Cheng-ping, a retired professor at the National Taiwan Normal University and chief economist for the Chinese conglomerate Huaxia group, reportedly disappeared after entering the mainland in August of last year. According to international media reports, Shih was being investigated for suspected activities endangering national security. The arrest marks the third such case that came to light in three months. In the month of Septemeber, China had also confirmed that Tsai Chin-Shu, another Taiwanese scholar had also been arrested and being investigated. The same month a Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Meng-chu also went missing after crossing into China from Hong Kong. 

(With agency inputs)

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