A Japanese court on Monday sentenced a Japanese man to seven
years in prison for damaging the Chinese Consulate General in
Osaka.
The Osaka District Court ruled that the defendant, Nobuyuki
Nakagama, 36, was guilty of damage to property and attempted
arson.
The court heard that on April 23, 2004, Nakagama had rammed his
vehicle into the front gate of the consulate and attempted to burn
the property by setting fire to his vehicle.
The attack, which badly damaged the gate of the consulate but
caused no casualties, was the most serious by a suspected Japanese
right-winger against Chinese diplomatic facilities since the
normalization of diplomatic relations in 1972.
(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2005)