China frees last of 4 detained Japanese+

BEIJING/TOKYO, Oct. 9 Kyodo -
China released on Saturday the last of four Japanese employees of construction
company Fujita Corp. who were detained Sept. 20 for allegedly entering a
military zone in Hubei Province without permission and videotaping military
facilities.
Sadamu Takahashi, 57, has left the place where he was residing under
''residential surveillance'' in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hubei, after going
through legal procedures, and departed from Shijiazhuang airport for Shanghai,
where he arrived in the evening, according to the Japanese Embassy.
Takahashi was freed five days after Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met in Brussels to mend bilateral ties strained
following the collisions of a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese Coast Guard
vessels Sept. 7 off the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea which
are administered by Japan but also claimed by China.
He was freed after Chinese authorities lifted ''residential surveillance''
placed on him for questioning, according to China's official Xinhua News
Agency.
Xinhua, quoting state security authorities in Shijiazhuang, said Takahashi was
''released on bail.''
Speaking to reporters at Shanghai airport, Takahashi said he was not aware that
he was in a military controlled zone when he and three other Japanese employees
at Fujita were detained by Chinese security officials.
Takahashi is expected to head for Japan as early as Sunday morning, according
to sources familiar with the Japan-China relation.
China freed the three other Fujita employees -- Yoshiro Sasaki, Hiroki
Hashimoto and Junichi Iguchi -- on Sept. 30. They returned to Japan the
following day.
When the three were released, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu
said Takahashi was still under further investigation and did not refer to a
potential timing of his release.
Takahashi appeared to be in ''good condition'' the embassy said, quoting one of
its officials who met Takahashi at the Shijiazhuang airport.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, Prime Minister Kan told reporters, ''I feel relieved at the
moment,'' adding, ''We'll hear from (Takahashi) what's been going on (when he
comes home).''
About Japan's relationship with China in the future, Kan said, ''We'll continue
to make efforts toward building a strategic reciprocal relationship (with
China), which we should have been making in ordinary circumstances.''
Takahashi's family in Japan released a written comment through Fujita, saying,
''We feel extremely relieved. We are grateful to those who have made great
efforts for the release (of Takahashi).''
The four Fujita employees, who were based in Shanghai, were on a visit to
Shijiazhuang on Sept. 20 as part of Fujita's plans to bid for a
Japanese-financed project related to the removal of abandoned chemical weapons
left by the Japanese military during World War II.
Sasaki, one of the three released, also said earlier they were not aware that
they were in a military controlled zone when they were detained by Chinese
security officials.
Chinese authorities said the four were illegally videotaping ''military objects.''
Before Takahashi was freed, Japanese Embassy personnel met with him at a
Shijiazhuang hotel on Tuesday for the third time since he was put under
detention.
==Kyodo
2010-10-09 23:28:25


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