THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
September 21, 2023 at 17:20 JST
BEIJING--A veteran employee of a Japanese pharmaceutical company has been criminally detained in China on suspicion of espionage, awaiting formal charges.
According to diplomatic sources, the male employee of Astellas Pharma Inc. who was initially detained in March as a suspected spy, has now been placed in “criminal detention.”
That means that Chinese authorities will likely decide soon whether he will be officially placed under arrest.
In Tokyo on Sept. 21, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government would continue to negotiate with Chinese officials for the early release of the male employee.
Government sources said Japanese Embassy officials who met the man found him to be in good health.
The detained man has worked in China for about 20 years and is well-known among the Japanese business community in Beijing. He had an extensive network of contacts in China, including important government officials, centered on the pharmaceutical industry.
He was detained in March shortly before he was scheduled to return to Japan, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry later announced that the man was being held as a suspected spy.
When then Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi visited Beijing in April, he asked that the man be released as soon as possible.
This request was ignored.
Japanese officials were informed in mid-September that the man has now been placed under criminal detention, and that a decision on whether to formally arrest him will likely be made within 37 days.
Even though he has already been detained for more than six months, a formal arrest could extend his detention considerably, particularly if he is subsequently indicted for espionage and faces court proceedings.
Japanese nationals working in China have become increasingly concerned about the uncertainties surrounding what constitutes spying in the eyes of the Chinese government.
If this man does go through the criminal process, Japanese and Western companies could re-evaluate their plans for entering the Chinese market.
(This article was compiled from reports by Sotaro Hata in Beijing and Shohei Sasagawa.)
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The head office of Astellas Pharma Inc. located in Tokyo's Chuo Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
