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China sidesteps Duterte claim of war threat over sea row
 by Staff Writers
 Beijing (AFP) May 22, 2017


Six more Japanese detained in China
Tokyo (AFP) May 22, 2017 - Six Japanese citizens have been detained in China for alleged illegal activities, officials in both nations said Monday, more than doubling the number previously held in the country.

Relations between the two nations have been marred by several irritants, including a maritime territorial dispute and lingering tensions over Tokyo's history of aggression in the first half of the 20th century.

China had already detained five other Japanese citizens since 2015, largely on suspicion of spying.

Four of them have been brought before criminal courts, according to the Asahi Shimbun daily.

Six other men -- three in Shandong province and three in Hainan province -- were detained in March, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a regular press conference.

Citing "the nature of the issue", he offered few details.

"We've been notified by the Chinese authorities that they violated domestic laws," he said, adding the government is "discussing the issue through our diplomatic missions abroad".

Suga did not answer when asked whether Tokyo had protested to Beijing over the issue.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the six were being investigated and Japanese consular officials had been notified.

"Chinese authorities have been investigating illegal activities," she said, declining to provide details and referring journalists to "competent authorities in China".

The latest detentions bring the number of Japanese held in China to 11, a foreign ministry official told AFP.

All six of those held in March were Japanese company officials who visited China after a local company or companies asked them to search for hot springs, public broadcaster NHK and major national dailies reported.

Japanese media speculated that the presence of military ports in both provinces may have caused them to be suspected of trying to access intelligence.

In recent years, Beijing has drafted a series of legislative measures including laws on national security, espionage and cyber-security.

China on Monday sidestepped claims by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte that it had threatened to go to war over the disputed South China Sea.

Duterte, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing last week, said Friday the leaders had raised conflict as an option to resolving their competing claims to the waters.

"I really said it to their face. That is ours and we intend to drill oil there," said Duterte, who claimed he made the comments public in response to domestic criticism he was being too weak with China over the row.

"And they told me: 'Well, we're friends. We do not want to quarrel with you. We want to maintain the present warm relationship. But if you force the issue we'll go to war.'"

China's government on Monday did not directly comment on Duterte's version of the leaders' conversation, but said it would "work with the Philippines to peacefully resolve disputes through friendly consultation".

China sought to "deepen cooperation in other fields so bilateral relations can move forward in a sound steady way and also contribute to regional peace stability," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.

The rival claims to the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, have for decades made it one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

China claims most of the sea, a key waterway for global shipping, and has reclaimed disputed reefs and installed military facilities on them.

Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.

An international tribunal ruled in July last year that China's claims to most of the sea were without legal basis, in a case filed by the Philippines under Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino.

But China vowed to ignore the ruling and warned the Philippines against trying to use the verdict as leverage.

Duterte, who began his six-year term in June last year, agreed to take a soft stance with China, claiming that if he did it might lead to war.

Duterte has also sought closer ties with China to win billions of dollars of Chinese investments and loans, while loosening the Philippines' long-standing alliance with the United States.

SUPERPOWERS
China killed or jailed up to 20 US spies in 2010-12: report
 Washington (AFP) May 20, 2017
 Beijing systematically dismantled CIA spying efforts in China beginning in 2010, killing or jailing more than a dozen covert sources, in a deep setback to US intelligence there, The New York Times reported Sunday. The Times, quoting 10 current and former American officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the intelligence breach as one of the worst in decades. It said that ... read more
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