Beijing/Tokyo, Mar 25 (PTI) China has protested to Japan and called for a thorough probe and punishment of a member of the Japanese self-defence force who entered the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, allegedly with a knife, deepening the rift between the two countries.
A 23-year-old second lieutenant in Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of unlawfully entering the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, Japanese police said.
Kodai Murata, a member of the GSDF’s Camp Ebino in Miyazaki Prefecture, was initially detained by embassy staff. He is believed to have been carrying a knife found near the scene, but no one was injured, the Metropolitan Police Department said, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
The Chinese government said the intruder threatened to kill Chinese diplomats, and that it had lodged a strong protest with the Japanese government.
The police quoted Murata as saying to investigators, “I tried to convey my opinions to the ambassador,” and that if his thoughts were rejected, “I was planning to surprise them by taking my own life.” The Japanese government on Wednesday said it regretted the incident and vowed to take measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again.
Reacting to the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Wednesday called on Japan to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident, punish the perpetrator, and provide a full account of the incident.
China has made solemn representations to the Japanese side in both Beijing and Tokyo, expressing strong dissatisfaction, Lin said, stressing that the incident has seriously endangered the safety of embassy staff, disrupted the peace of the embassy premises, and undermined the embassy’s dignity.
This incident also demonstrates that Japan has failed to earnestly fulfil its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and its special responsibility to protect the inviolability of diplomatic missions and diplomatic representatives, Lin said.
He said China also protested to Japan over reports that the Japanese government has approved changes in the school textbooks to change narratives over allegations of forced conscription of “comfort women” by the Japanese army during its invasion of China in the Second World War.
He quoted reports saying that the new narrative in the textbooks stated that there was no coercion involved in wartime labour mobilisation or the sexual slavery of “comfort women”.
China also protested Japan’s claims over Senkaku islands, also called Diaoyu Dao by China. He said the islands are an inherent territory of China.
Relations between China and Japan remain strained following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces could be deployed under the right to collective self-defence in “worst-case” scenarios, such as a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan, which she said would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan.
China lashed out after the remarks, initiating a host of trade measures, including asking its tourists not to visit the country.
China’s scathing attacks enhanced the popularity of Takaichi, following which she declared midterm elections and won a landslide victory in February this year. Recent reports from Tokyo said Japan also downgraded its ties with China from “one of the most important” to an “important neighbour” in its 2026 blue book.
Reacting to Japan’s decision, Lin told the media here on Tuesday that Tokyo should retract the erroneous remarks on Taiwan as soon as possible, correct its wrongdoings, and take concrete actions to uphold the political foundation of China-Japan relations. PTI KJV RD RD
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