crime

China confirms detention of 6 Japanese for 'illegal activities'

14 Comments

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14 Comments
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The article curiously omits the fact that the arrested men were in China upon request of a Chinese firm to conduct a geological survey for a prospective hot spring resort.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Possible detention seems to be a feature of doing business in China. I happens frequently.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

No, they have the 120% confession under torture system installed.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

As I mentioned earlier, these men were from a geological survey company and were searching for subterranean hot springs, at the request of a Chinese resort company.

Such an operation involves highly sophisticated equipment such as deep penetrating sonars, acoustic analysis machines, and GPS beacons.

It's not too far a stretch of the imagination that Chinese civilians thought they to be suspicious, ratted them to the party, party arrests them on superficial pretense and is keeping them to "save face."

3 ( +3 / -0 )

It seems travelers/business people easily can't go to China. You might be arrested if you went somewhere and did something somewhere because of spying. All will be arrested if they think you must be a spy. No freedom there.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Goodlucktoyou as you move to the perfect world. It apparently isn't Japan, USA, or SK. Maybe in NK?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Except they weren't tourists.

They were surveyors/geologists and long time employees of a firm based in Funabashi, Chiba. They were hired by a Chinese resort hotel to search for thermal vents to make a hot spring.

Since there is no other information available to the public, I'll give a plausible scenario:

Guys have a day off, go sightseeing. Maybe they took some photographs of the warships/submarines at Hainan Naval Base. (because really, who doesn't take pictures of warships/submarines. They're a rare sight and impressive)

Some over-zealous cop starts questioning them, searches their vehicle, sees their equipment (not fully understanding it's function) and arrests them for espionage.

The Chinese govt has known this all along, but is holding on to a bargaining chip, or "saving face."

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Or the survey had been finished and they given their initial analysis to the resort company. The resort company unwilling to pay for their services called security and had them arrested for spying so to evade payment.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Just don't go there. Do not travel to NK, China and other countries with similar conditions. Several USA citizens have learned the hard way that the constitution does not travel with them. Invite and welcome the Chinese to Japan and thank them for spending their money, but there is no need for tourists to go there.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The Chinese company that hired these guys have an obligation to vouch for them.

I never heard of professional prospectors can become spies for military secrets.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If Japanese spies are anything like you see on Japanese TV it's no wonder they were caught.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

spies need a cover. A cover that allows them to use spying equipment. A tourist with a deep penetrating sonar in their backpack may be a tad bit shady. All countries spy, I heard a rumour that Tokyo is a hotbed, as long as they don't do assignations like the recent one in Malaysia, we just need to accept the fact.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

if they are innocent they will be freed. China doesn't have the 99% confession in custody system like in Japan.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

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