China temporarily detains Japanese diplomat
Beijing: Chinese officials recently detained a Japanese diplomat in Beijing temporarily while he was on duty, media reports said on Friday.
China said its action was justified because the official was engaging in inappropriate activity.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters as quoted by Kyodo on Tuesday night that the government had lodged a protest with China through diplomatic channels, saying, "We cannot overlook (the incident) and will never accept it."
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry balked at the protest on Wednesday, saying that the unidentified diplomat at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing had been investigated and questioned in accordance with the law after acting inappropriately, without elaborating.
"China has lodged solemn representations with Japan, urging it to strictly restrain the words and deeds of diplomatic personnel in China" and "prevent similar incidents from happening again," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing as quoted by Kyodo.
A Chinese official told Kyodo News that the diplomat was collecting information illegally.
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