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| Saturday, 27 March 2004 |
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Japan set to send China activists to prosecutors TOKYO, Friday (Reuters) Japanese police were set to hand over custody of seven Chinese activists who landed on a disputed island to prosecutors later on Friday, prolonging a diplomatic feud despite Beijing's demand for their immediate release. But the seven, who landed on the uninhabited island on Wednesday, are unlikely to be indicted and will eventually be handed over to immigration officials for deportation to China, Kyodo news agency said. The police could choose to hand over the detainees to immigration officials, which would open the door to speedy deportation, but have decided to send their case to the public prosecutors due to the "seriousness" of the incident, Kyodo said. The flare-up of the dispute over the rocky island - one of a cluster in the East China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan - threatens to further fray ties between Tokyo and Beijing. Relations have already been strained by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, where convicted war criminals are also honoured. The arrest of the Chinese, the first by Japanese police on the island, was denounced by Beijing and sparked flag-burning protests outside Tokyo's embassy in the Chinese capital. Japanese media said the Chinese network to which the seven arrested activists belong was planning another trip on Sunday to the remote islands, called the Senkakus by Japan and referred to as the Diaoyus by China. |
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