JCP Ichida calls on Diet to find facts of consulate incidents

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi called a news conference on May 13 to state that the Diet should play a role to ascertain the facts of the recent incident at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, China.

Ichida pointed out that the governments of Japan and China gave differing accounts on whether or not Chinese policemen seized the five people with the Japanese authority's consent.

China says that the vice-consul gave police permission to enter the compound to seize the five asylum seekers, but Japan denies China's claim.

The JCP Secretariat head emphasized that what must be done without delay is to determine the facts and that the Diet must obtain reports from Foreign Ministry officials or relevant diplomats to discuss this case. (end)