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| Japanese officials deny work stress as reason for envoy's suicide |
| Believe Shanghai-based diplomat killed himself over Chinese blackmail |
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| The Associated Press (apwire) |
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Published 2006-05-15 14:01 (KST) |
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Japanese officials on Monday denied a news report claiming that work stress was cited as the reason for a consular attache's suicide in Shanghai despite allegations he killed himself because of blackmail by Chinese intelligence agents.
The unidentified consular official said he was driven to suicide after Chinese agents used a karaoke hostess, blackmail and intimidation to pry state secrets from him in an alleged suicide note printed in the Yomiuri newspaper in March.
China has denied that any agents were involved with the man.
Last December, the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo posted a statement on its Web site saying that work-related stress had driven the man to kill himself last year, not pressure from Chinese spies as Japan claimed.
On Monday, the Yomiuri seemed to confirm that version of events.
Citing unidentified government sources, it said consular officials gave Chinese authorities work stress as the reason for the May 5, 2004, suicide for the "foreigner death report" the authorities completed the day after he died.
The officials did so out of concern that Chinese authorities might delay or prevent the return of the body to the deceased's family, the paper said.
Japanese government officials denied the report as inaccurate.
"The results of the investigation by the consul official in charge and the death certificate compiled by the Chinese side do not contain the information reported by the media," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told reporters.
The death certificate did not include motivations for the suicide, according toFumio Shimizu, deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's personnel section.
Abe repeated the Japanese government's stance that the suicide was due to "regrettable actions" taken by local Chinese security personnel.
"We have made clear to the Chinese side that their claim is unacceptable," Abe said. "We continue to make requests through diplomatic channels for the truth." The incident prompted Japan to accuse China of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that guarantees the inviolability of diplomats.
Japan's allegations have inflamed tensions between two countries already at odds over a range of issues, including China's growing military power, rights to undersea gas deposits and interpretations of wartime history.
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