China Detains Japanese Professor Suspected of Spying

The detained professor works at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Hokkaido prefecture. (Wikimedia Commons)

Multiple news outlets learned on October 11 that in September, Chinese authorities detained a Japanese professor in Beijing on grounds that he had “violated domestic laws.” The professor is currently under suspicion of espionage, according to diplomatic sources informed on bilateral ties between China and Japan. 

The professor, who is in his forties, is from Hokkaido University. He has a history of working in Japan’s Foreign Ministry, as well as in the Defense Ministry's National Institute for Defense Studies. He is currently a professor specializing in modern Chinese history.

In 2014 and 2015, China passed legislation against foreign intelligence within the country with an anti-espionage law in 2014 and a national security law in 2015. Since 2015, China has detained at least 13 other Japanese citizens on charges including espionage, along with a number of other foreign nationals.

However, this is the first case in which a Japanese national with an occupation that Japanese law regards as the equivalent of a public servant has been detained on suspicion of espionage.

The unidentified professor currently remains in custody.