Beijing has protested to Japan over the break-in at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a briefing, and his words were published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry press service.
According to the Chinese diplomat, on the morning of March 24, a criminal posing as an active-duty officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces jumped over a wall and broke into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. The man threatened to kill Chinese diplomats “in the name of God“. He admitted that his actions were illegal.
China is “deeply shocked by this incident”, Lin Jian stressed. "The incident violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, seriously threatened the personal safety of Chinese diplomats and the security of diplomatic facilities, and was extremely negative in nature," he said.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman added that the incident reflected "the widespread far-right ideology and forces in Japan" and exposed "the Japanese government's wrong policies on key issues related to China-Japan relations" such as Taiwan. The international community should be "extremely vigilant" about Japan's policies and the Self-Defense Forces' tendency to get out of control, Lin Jian added.
Beijing has demanded that Japan immediately investigate the incident, severely punish those responsible and submit a report to China.
Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that the Metropolitan Police arrested the embassy attacker that evening. He was identified as 23-year-old Lieutenant Koki Murata of the Self-Defense Forces, stationed at the Ebino garrison in Miyazaki prefecture. The report said no embassy staff were injured.
“There is no doubt that I broke in.“ “My intention was to meet with the Chinese ambassador and express my opinion that he should stop making such harsh statements,“ the newspaper quoted Murata as saying.
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force confirmed the break-in and promised to cooperate with the police investigation.