Japanese detained for helping Koreans to flee

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Japanese detained for helping Koreans to flee

Chinese police have detained a Japanese man for illegally transporting two foreigners out of China. Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the news Tuesday, saying Takayuki Nogutsi worked with others to help the two to leave China illegally.

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Police have detained a Japanese man for illegally transporting two foreigners out of China. Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the news Tuesday, saying Takayuki Nogutsi worked with others to help the two to leave China illegally.

Takayuki Noguchi, male, arrived in the northeastern Chinese port of Dalian on December 6 and "collaborated with several other people there to transport two aliens who had illegally entered China,"said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Tuesday in a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Kong said the three people were detained by local police when they tried to leave China secretly from the southwestern Chinese city of Nanning, near China's border with Vietnam.

Takayuki Noguchi's act violated China's Criminal Law which bans illegal transportation of people out of its border, the spokesman said, adding that the police had informed the Japanese Embassy in China on the latest developments.

"The case is under investigation right now," Kong said.

In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said the three were detained on December 10. He said Tokyo has asked China to allow the Japanese detainee to return home, according to an Associated Press report.Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Tokyo is urging Chinese government not to send home the two North Koreans, the Kyodo News agency reported.

China hopes for early six-party talks

China hopes the second round of six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue will start as soon as possible and China is in constant talks with various parties, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Kong said two senior Chinese officials had left Beijing Sunday for the United States for discussions on the issue with James Kelly, US Assistant Secretary of State.

The two officials are Fu Ying, head of the Asian Affairs Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Ning Fukui, an ambassador-level official with the Foreign Ministry in charge of affairs concerning the Korean Peninsula, said Kong.

Fu and Ning are also expected to meet other senior US officials,said Kong.

In August 2003, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan held the first round of six-party talks in Beijing.

Sino-Russian ties close, cooperation good

Close Sino-Russian relations and cooperation have developed rapidly in recent years, and the two countries worked well together in international affairs, said Kong.

Kong said Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov would visit China and attend the opening ceremony of the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Thursday, he said.

He would hold talks with Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing and meet Chinese leaders, Kong said.

The two foreign ministers would review the development of relations, and plan the future development of relations, including visits between leaders this year, said Kong.

Three Koreas deported for Falun Gong activities

In another development, three citizens of the Republic of Korea (ROK) were deported yesterday for their illegal activities of the banned Falun Gong cult, sources with the Chinese judicial authorities said.

Nam Sang-sik, 49, Pak Chang-kuk, 48, and Ahn Suk-chul, 53, were detained according to Chinese law on January 10 and 11 respectively and deported yesterday reported Xinhua.

A judicial investigation showed that Nam and Pak, after their entry into China, had instigated Falun Gong followers in China to sabotage local radio, television broadcast and telecommunications facilities and had plotted sabotage activities during the upcoming Spring Festival.

The three ROK nationals confessed to their illegal activities in China during the detention and judicial investigation, and were admonished by the Chinese judicial authorities, according to law before the deportation, sources said.

By People's Daily Online

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