BEIJING: China is investigating four Japanese nationals over claims they filmed sensitive military installations, in an escalation of a damaging row between the two countries.
The move came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged dialogue over the arrest by Japan of a Chinese fisherman earlier this month, which sent relations between the neighbors into a tailspin.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday threatened retaliation over Japan’s “mistake” as Beijing ramped up the pressure on Tokyo.
In a short report on Thursday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said: “Four Japanese are being investigated for having entered a military zone without authorisation and illegally videotaped military targets in northern Heibei province.”
Japan’s Kyodo news agency on Friday said the Japanese embassy in Beijing had confirmed four of the country’s nationals were being questioned.
Chinese state security authorities have “taken measures against the four people according to the law after receiving a report about their illegal activities,” Xinhua said.
The report gave scant details, other than to name one of the four as Sada Takahashi.
Japanese news agency Jiji Press said contractor Fujita Corp. “had information that four of its employees had been detained by Chinese authorities”.
The report, citing a spokesman, said the company had not been in touch with the four since “at least Wednesday”.
Kyodo said the four were on a visit to prepare for a bid on a scheme to dispose of chemical weapons left over by Japanese forces in World War II.
The move will likely worsen the row between Tokyo and Beijing that erupted with the arrest of the Chinese trawlerman following a collision near islands claimed by both countries in the East China Sea.
Beijing has made repeated angry demands for his release, which Tokyo has rebuffed, saying he is subject to domestic law having deliberately rammed coast guard boats with his trawler.
In a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Clinton said Washington wanted to see a negotiated settlement to the dispute, the worst between the two countries in a number of years.
Clinton sought to “encourage dialogue and (voiced) hope that the issue can be resolved soon”, her spokesman Philip Crowley said, adding Japan-China ties “are vitally important to regional stability”.
Crowley said Maehara told Clinton that his government was trying to resolve the dispute based on its legal process and international law.
Wen weighed in on the dispute shortly after arriving in New York on Tuesday, threatening “further actions” if Japan does not release the trawler captain.
“I strongly urge the Japanese side to release the skipper immediately and unconditionally,” he said.
“If Japan clings to its mistake, China will take further actions and the Japanese side shall bear all the consequences that arise,” he said, urging Tokyo to “correct its mistakes to bring relations back on track”.
Wen told the UN General Assembly Thursday his country would not threaten another nation but would not yield in disputes over its national interests.
Without specifically mentioning the ongoing dispute, he said: “When it comes to sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity, China will not yield or compromise.”
Beijing has already suspended high-level contacts with Tokyo and called off several official visits.
Tokyo’s ambassador has been called in for a dressing down by various officials in the Chinese foreign ministry on six occasions, once in the small hours of the morning.
The trawlerman, Zhan Qixiong, has been in custody since September 7 following the incident near a group of islands with rich fishing and mineral resources known as Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China.
His detention has been extended until Wednesday, when, under Japanese law, he must be either indicted or released.
The dispute has caused anger in China, where resentment of Japan and its brutal occupation of parts of the country during the 1930s and 1940s still simmers.
At the weekend, small groups of anti-Japan demonstrators rallied in three Chinese cities, but the protests were brief and peaceful.
Sino-Japanese relations have gradually warmed in recent years as successive Japanese prime ministers have begun to engage more with their emerging neighbour.
