China Expresses Regret Over Verdict in Feng Jinhua Case

The Chinese government regrets the verdict handed down by a court in Japan in the case of Feng Jinhua, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue Monday.

Sources said that the court Monday sentenced Feng Jinhua to 10 months in jail with 3 years' suspension, for a graffito on a stone sculpture in front of the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Zhang said that China has told Japan several times that there is a political dimension to the Feng Jinhua case, and that the Japanese side should deal with it justly and reasonably.

She noted that China deeply regrets the verdict, and will continue to help safeguard Feng's rights.

Feng Jinhua, a Chinese living in Japan was arrested by police on the spot for painting protesting words outside the gate of Yasukuni Shrine in Japan.

Feng, aged 31, from China's Shanxi Province, has been living for many years in Japan. He graduated from law department of a Japanese university, employed in China division of a Tokyo telephone company.

According to Feng's friends, on the evening of August 14, Feng could not control his fury after reading online news about Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi's Shrine visit, and then decided to take action. On 10: 10 pm he rushed to the Yasukuni Shrine and poured out his indignation and protest by painting a red "accursed" on the base of a stone sculpture of a side gate. He was summarily arrested by police under the accusation of "damaging public property" and now held by a Tokyo police office.

( December 11, 2001)