A Japanese woman in her 50s has been detained in China in June in addition to three Japanese citizens already known to have been held by Chinese authorities in recent months, a Japanese government source said Saturday.
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Before meeting Abe on Wednesday, China’s top diplomat will hold talks Tuesday with Shotaro Yachi, Abe’s senior national security adviser, to discuss preparations for an upcoming summit of Japan, China and South Korea.
“As part of their measures to gather information, Public Security Intelligence Agency officials have been courting (Japanese) businessmen who often travel to other countries”, said military journalist Buntaro Kuroi. The man is retired from a large company, it said.
The incredible shopping spree is reported to have boosted the Japanese economy by 0.1% with the number of Chinese tourists visiting doubling over the past year, obviously spurred on by all the attention that Japan has been getting in the Chinese media lately.
South Korea, China and Japan had held a trilateral summit among their leaders since 2008, but the summits ceased in 2012, mainly due to the intensifying rivalry between Beijing and Tokyo over territorial disputes.
The Chinese government is increasingly cracking down on alleged spies after launching a strict new counterespionage law last November.
A Japanese woman has been detained in Shanghai for her suspected involvement in spying activities, it was learned Saturday.
Hua would not directly comment on those reports.
But our correspondent says the leadership in Beijing has toughened its stance on national security – with a new commission and stronger laws.
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It will be his first trip to Japan since he became a mainland state councillor in 2013, a year after relations plunged following Tokyo’s nationalization of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
