China questions 4 Japanese for videotaping military targets

BEIJING, Sept. 23 Kyodo -
Chinese authorities are investigating four Japanese nationals for allegedly
entering a military zone without authorization and videotaping military targets
in Hebei Province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
The four, employees of a Japanese construction company, are believed to have
been visiting near the scene to prepare for bidding on a project to dispose of
chemical weapons abandoned in China by the Japanese military at the end of
World War II, a source familiar with Japan-China relations said.
The Japanese Embassy in Beijing said it ''is checking the facts'' in the case.
Some observers said China may use the four people to put further pressure on
Japan to free a Chinese fishing boat captain it detained over a ship collision
row.
About 9:30 p.m., Xinhua released an advance notice in its Chinese language
service that it will run a major story about the investigation of the four
Japanese. It is unusual for Xinhua to issue an advance notice for an article on
such an incident, raising speculation that the news agency may have sought to
play up the case amid deterioration in bilateral relations.
According to Xinhua, state security authorities in Shijiazhuang, the capital of
the province, have taken measures against the four in accordance with the law.
''Currently, the case is being investigated,'' the state security authorities
were quoted as saying in a statement.
Xinhua has yet to report the details of the case.
==Kyodo