PM Sanae Takaichi says “there is no such fact” after Russia accused a Japanese journalist of spying. Tokyo has not been able to contact him, officials say.
TOKYO: Japan denied on Thursday conducting spy activity in Russia, following Moscow’s arrest of a Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage.
Russia has arrested several citizens of what it calls “unfriendly” countries in recent years, accusing them of working for Western intelligence services.
“There is no such fact,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters when asked about the Russian allegations, adding that “the protection of Japanese nationals is extremely important right now, and we intend to focus our efforts on that”.
Moscow’s foreign ministry identified the reporter Tuesday as Yuki Imai from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, with a spokeswoman saying he was accused of “conducting espionage activities on Russian territory”.
Tokyo responded by summoning Russian ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to lodge a protest over the arrest, with the foreign ministry urging “fair and impartial treatment”.
After the meeting, Nozdrev released a statement saying he noted “the unacceptability of a situation where Japanese special services attract ‘collaboration’ with private persons, including Japanese journalists accredited in Russia, for the collection of classified information.”
“It was emphasised that Russian competent authorities have repeatedly thwarted similar attempts before,” the statement noted.
Takaichi said details of the accusations remained unclear.
“Each country’s domestic laws are different, so we do not yet know the details of what they call an allegation,” she said.
Moscow’s FSB security service earlier said a Japanese national was arrested on the Far East island of Sakhalin — near a disputed cluster of islands — but did not name the individual.
It said the person had worked for Japanese intelligence to collect information about Russia’s defences.
Moscow and Tokyo have been locked in a territorial dispute for decades over the status of a string of islands in the Pacific Ocean, off the northeast coast of Japan and to the southwest of Russia’s Sakhalin region.
The Kuril Islands — called the Northern Territories in Japan — have been under Russia’s control since the end of World War II, when they were seized by the Soviet Union.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Wednesday that Japan had not been able to contact the individual and did not know about the arrest until the official announcement from Moscow.
The Hokkaido Shimbun said in a statement that it was aware of the Russian announcement but was “still confirming the details”.
“Ensuring the safety of the journalist is our top priority, and we are responding accordingly,” the newspaper said.