BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Tuesday once again urged Japan to have a thorough probe into, do soul-searching on, rectify its wrongdoing about the incident of intrusion by a Self-Defense Forces (SDF) officer into the Chinese embassy, and fully account for the incident.
Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a related query.
It is reported that Tokyo prosecutors indicted Kodai Murata, who broke into the Chinese embassy in Japan with a knife, after a psychiatric evaluation confirmed that he is mentally fit to be held criminally responsible for the incident.
On March 24, Murata forcibly entered the Chinese embassy while carrying a knife and issued violent threats against Chinese personnel.
It has been four months since Murata illegally entered the Chinese embassy in Japan with a knife, Lin said, adding that despite China's stern protests, the Japanese side repeatedly prolonged investigation and handling of the case with so-called "psychiatric evaluation" or other pretexts, and delayed justice. "China strongly deplores this," Lin said.
For some time, vicious incidents threatening the security of Chinese diplomatic missions in Japan have continued to occur. Many with insights in Japan and beyond highlighted the deep-seated problems in Japan revealed by a series of dangerous trends -- the worsening right-wing impact and the suppression of rational voices, the serious lack of education on true history, the ongoing push for a more offensive and expansionist defense policy, and failure in supervising the SDF and maintaining discipline inside the forces, according to Lin.
"Any attempt by Japan to downplay the case only greenlights more of the same and leads to immense harm on Japan itself and the region at large," Lin said. "The international community must remain highly vigilant." ■
