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A Chinese national living in Japan on Friday admitted to his involvement in a graffiti incident at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in May.
Jiang Zhuojun, 29, pleaded guilty at the Tokyo District Court to charges of damaging property and disrespecting a place of worship, and said the motive behind his actions was not related to history issues.
"I was protesting against the discharge of treated radioactive water," he said in court, referring to the treated water from Fukushima nuclear power plant that has been released into the ocean since 2023. "I wanted to protect the ocean."
Jiang was indicted for allegedly conspiring with two other men to vandalize a stone pillar at the shrine, and spray-paint the word "toilet" in English, on May 31. The damage is estimated at 4.6 million yen.
The two other men are also Chinese nationals, Dong Guangming and Xu Laiyu, who left Japan for China on June 1. A video was posted on Chinese social media showing a man appearing to urinate on the stone pillar before spray-painting it.
Dong and Xu were placed on the wanted list in July when Jiang was arrested.
Yasukuni has long been a source of diplomatic friction with China and other Asian countries as it honors Japan's wartime leaders, who were convicted as war criminals in a post-World War II international tribunal, along with the war dead.
© KYODO
9 Comments
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sakurasuki
Back in his home he might be considered as a hero.
Let's see whether the other two is careless enough to walk into Japan anytime soon.
Hercolobus
Like the scribe told the captain in Mulan: “You know the punishment”.
Fighto!
I wonder what would happen if a foreign person went and spraypainted "toilet" - which would be the correct definition - on pictures of evil and disgusting Mao in Tiananmen square?
Japan is too lenient on vermin like these men and their type.
garymalmgren
"I was protesting against the discharge of treated radioactive water," he said in court, referring to the treated water from Fukushima nuclear power plant that has been released into the ocean since 2023. "I wanted to protect the ocean."
Well, with an excuse like that he could well get off.
Or, maybe not.
TokyoLiving
Jail and deport, pathetic loser clowns..
WiseOneIn Kansai
Idiot!!
So, what is your home country doing in the South China Seas constructing artificial islands and destroying the natural environment?
Fighto!
You are very conflicted on this one, considering your love for China and the CCP
LOOOOOOOL
OssanAmerica
This 29 year old Jiang Zhuojun is a very confused person. The wastewater disharge from the Fukushima plant has nothing to do with the Yasukuni Shrine.
He claims that he "wanted to protect the ocean". He should start by urinating on and vandaling well known places in China. China is doing more damage to the ocean than Japan.
Goes to show how government propaganda can brainwash the weak minded.
"China’s Fuqing power plant in Fujian province releases about three times more tritium into the Pacific than the planned Fukushima discharge. Beijing appears to be basing its distinction on Japan’s discharge having originated from a nuclear disaster."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/25/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-power-plant-china-wastewater-release#:~:text=China's%20Fuqing%20power%20plant%20in,originated%20from%20a%20nuclear%20disaster.
Random
How long did it take to come up with that excuse, which btw, I don’t believe.