China’s ambassador to Japan said the detention of an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc. was related to espionage and for something that damaged Beijing’s sovereignty.
(Bloomberg) — China’s ambassador to Japan said the detention of an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc. was related to espionage and for something that damaged Beijing’s sovereignty.
Wu Jianghao also told reporters in Tokyo on Friday the case was not a question of an innocent person being taken into custody. The comments are some of the most direct made by a senior government official since the employee was detained by Chinese authorities about a month ago.
The employee, whom Astellas has not identified, was in his 50s and had been in China for more than 20 years, the Financial Times has cited people with knowledge of the incident as saying. The country accounts for less than 5% of Astellas’s annual revenue but is a key source of raw materials for the company’s drugs, according to the report.
The case has increased friction between the two biggest economies in Asia. It comes as Japan prepares to host leaders from the Group of Seven nations next month, with the US pressing for its allies and partners to coordinate against economic coercion from the likes of China.
Read: US to Push Against China Economic ‘Coercion’ at G-7 Meeting (1)
Seventeen Japanese have been detained in China since 2015, a foreign ministry official told parliament earlier this month. Five are still in Chinese custody, of whom two have received sentences.
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