China’s ambassador to Iceland has been allegedly detained for leaking secrets to Japan

[Raphael]

China’s ambassador to Iceland has been allegedly detained for leaking secrets to Japan – Quartz

Chinese ambassador to Iceland Ma Jisheng and his wife, Zhong Yue, have been arrested (link in Chinese) by Beijing on suspicion of leaking national security secrets to Japan, according to a Chinese-language media report.

The report hasn’t been confirmed by Chinese officials, who declined to answer questions from reporters about the ambassador’s whereabouts. Asked to confirm news of the arrest—first reported by the overseas Chinese outlet MingJing News, citing anonymous Chinese officials—China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, “I have no information on this.”

Already, links to headlines and articles about Ma’s arrest have begun to be scrubbed from the internet, and a link to the Ma’s biography on the Chinese Iceland embassy’s website now turns up blank.

Ma, who served as secretary in China’s embassy in Japan (link in Chinese) in the mid 1990s and again as commissar in Toyko between 2004 and 2008, has espoused the typical Chinese criticism of Japan. In February, he penned an editorial (link in Chinese and Icelandic) in an Icelandic newspaper criticizing the visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine by Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe.

The Icelandic news site Grapevine reported earlier this month that Ma left the country in January—before the editorial was written—and has not been heard from since. A spokeswoman for the Icelandic government said it had been notified that “Ma would not return to his post for personal reasons,” Reuters reported.

China and Iceland have had increasingly friendly diplomatic relations in recent years. The countries signed a free-trade pact in 2013, though a bizarre plan by a Chinese entrepreneur to build an Icelandic golf resort did not come to fruition.

 

[Aepsilons]

I wish the best of luck to Ambassador Ma Jisheng and his wife Madam Zhong Yue.

 

[Aepsilons]

BEIJING—
China's Foreign Ministry refused to say on Wednesday where its ambassador to Iceland was or who was even representing Beijing in the country, following reports he had been arrested by state security for passing secrets to Japan.

New York-based Chinese language portal Mingjing News reported on Tuesday that China's envoy to Iceland, Ma Jisheng, and his wife had been taken away by Chinese state security earlier this year.

It said Ma was suspected of having become a Japanese spy while working in the Chinese embassy in Tokyo between 2004 and 2008.

The story was then picked up by Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper and subsequently carried by some mainland Chinese news sites, though many of those stories were later deleted.

Asked whether the reports were true, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, “I have no information on this.”

Hong gave the same reply when asked where Ma currently was and who the Chinese ambassador to Iceland was if Ma was no longer there.

It was not possible to contact either Ma or his wife for comment.

The Japanese government declined to comment.

“We are aware of the media report,” a Japanese government official told Reuters. “But it's basically China's domestic issue and therefore the Japanese government would like to refrain from commenting.”

A spokeswoman for Iceland's foreign ministry, Urdur GunnarsdDottir, said an announcement from the Chinese embassy in Reykjavik in May had stated Ma would not return to his post for personal reasons.

There has been a caretaker ambassador since then, GunnarsdDottir said, adding that Ma left Iceland in January and was to have returned in March.

A link on the website of the Chinese embassy in Iceland to the ambassador's resume showed up blank. A welcome address on the site's front page was attributed only to the Chinese ambassador to Iceland, without giving a name.

However the site gave prominent display to an article written by Ma in an Icelandic newspaper in February, in which he criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine last year.

The Yasukuni shrine honors Japan's war dead, including 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, and relations between China and Japan plunged to a new low after Abe's visit there.

Ties between the two nations, long at loggerheads over what China calls Japan's failure to properly atone for its behavior during World War Two, have also been affected by a dispute over ownership of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea.


China Silent on Diplomat's Whereabouts Amid Japan Spying Report

 

[DragonEmpire]

The previous administration's sh1t for this administration to wipe. Poor management by Yang?

 

[cnleio]

The previous administration's sh1t for this administration to wipe. Poor management by Yang?

If i tell u Yang (杨洁篪) is the father-in-law of Japanese, his daughter marry to a Japanese husband.
No doubt, we have the traitor inside CPC

Sentence all Chinese traitors including CPC member to the death, no mercy.

 

[Aepsilons]

If i tell u Yang (杨洁篪) is the father-in-law of Japanese, his daughter marry to a Japanese husband.
No doubt, we have the traitor inside CPC

Sentence all Chinese traitors including CPC member to the death, no mercy.

@cnleio,

Surely just because 杨洁篪 "Tiger Yang" has a Japanese son-in-law does not mean he is a traitor. One can still be loyal to one's government without allowing personal life and affairs affecting one's loyalty.

There is a popular politician in Japan -- 谷垣 禎 -- Tanigaki Sadakazu -- who is a senior in the LDP party, he is very pro-China, has visited China many times, and was good friends with many CPC members , yet at the same time he is respected in Japan. Even Abe respects him. So much that he appointed him into cabinet to help better relations with China.

 

[cnleio]

@cnleio,

Surely just because 杨洁篪 "Tiger Yang" has a Japanese son-in-law does not mean he is a traitor. One can still be loyal to one's government without allowing personal life and affairs affecting one's loyalty.

There is a popular politician in Japan -- 谷垣 禎 -- Tanigaki Sadakazu -- who is a senior in the LDP party, he is very pro-China, has visited China many times, and was good friends with many CPC members , yet at the same time he is respected in Japan. Even Abe respects him. So much that he appointed him into cabinet to help better relations with China.

I didn't say "Tiger Yang" as the traitor, but as the BOSS of PRC's diplomacy department his attitude & style hurt national interest, no doubt there'r traitors who worked for him.

"上梁不正下梁歪" Those traitor inside CPC and as CPC members, UNFORGIVABLE !

 

[jkroo]

Traitors shoud be sentenced to death without any mercy. Selling national secrets to other country is most harmful to our country.
What a worst morality can lead to betray his motherland?

狗头斩伺候。

 

[Aepsilons]

I didn't say "Tiger Yang" as the traitor, but as the BOSS of PRC's diplomacy department his attitude & style hurt national interest, no doubt there'r traitors who worked for him.

"上梁不正下梁歪" Those traitor inside CPC and as CPC members, UNFORGIVABLE !

I understand your concern bro, and I empathize with you about importance of national interests.

Just I believe in the due process of the Law , most importantly, people are innocent until proven guilty. We do not know that Ambassador Ma is guilty or not, these are just media speculations (and i've been scouring Japanese, Chinese and American media) about his supposed selling of secrets to Japan. As Ambassador, he is responsible for actions of those who serve under him, so we need to hold back blame and all this condemnatory talks about Ma Sensei until it is found out what charges are, and verdict.

Till then, its best to show prudence in this matter. Let us be objective.

Traitors shoud be sentenced to death without any mercy. Selling national secrets to other country is most harmful to our country.
What a worst morality can lead to betray his motherland?

狗头斩伺候。

安慰

Please be calm. There is no proof that Ma Sensei is guilty; it is natural to overreact with sensitivity to media's over dramatization of things. Be prudent until the due process of the law is manifested.

Thanks.

 

[andy_hujian]

These kinds of things happen all the time. I'm sure China also have people working in Japanese government also, which haven't been reported.

The U.S. even have spies in its allies, this is normal for non-ally countries.

 

[jkroo]

They commit crime and were caught by national security agency early this year as I know.

Please be more efficient and quick response to traitors, national guards.

 

[Aepsilons]

These kinds of things happen all the time. I'm sure China also have people working in Japanese government also, which haven't been reported.

The U.S. even have spies in its allies, this is normal for non-ally countries.

Its also important to not overreact to sensational news headlines. One must be master of one's own mind.

They commit crime and were caught by national security agency early this year as I know.

Please be more efficient and quick response to traitors, national guards.

Pardon me,

But upon reading this article and the articles posted in Japan Times, Ma Sensei didn't appear to work for personal reasons. Perhaps he had a personal reason for this, such as physical health or psychological health concerns. There are plethora of factors to consider before writing him off as a traitor. After his years of service to the PRC, he should at least be given reasonable doubt!

 

[jkroo]

Its also important to not overreact to sensational news headlines. One must be master of one's own mind.



Pardon me,

But upon reading this article and the articles posted in Japan Times, Ma Sensei didn't appear to work for personal reasons. Perhaps he had a personal reason for this, such as physical health or psychological health concerns. There are plethora of factors to consider before writing him off as a traitor. After his years of service to the PRC, he should at least be given reasonable doubt!

It's not the story you told. Lets wait and see the result when they are stand on court.
Sorry, your sympathy and excuse to traitors just let me feel sick.

I will stop talking the traitors who contribute to your country if I were you.

You just talk too much about them and let it be become very true even those who doubt it.

 

[Aepsilons]

It's not the story you told. Lets wait and see the result when they are stand on court.
Sorry, your sympathy and excuse to traitors just let me feel sick.

I will stop talking the traitors who contribute to your country if I were you.

You just talk too much about them and let it be become very true even those who doubt it.

Dear colleague @jkroo ,

I would counsel you to take an objective approach. In fact, I encourage you not to show bias merely because of an individual's affiliation with anything related to Japan.Also this suspicion you have of Japan is unfair, I hope you can ameliorate this.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

[jkroo]

Dear colleague @jkroo ,

I would counsel you to take an objective approach. In fact, I encourage you not to show bias merely because of an individual's affiliation with anything related to Japan.Also this suspicion you have of Japan is unfair, I hope you can ameliorate this.

Thank you for your consideration.

I insist that I have balanced point about this issue. I read many news/reports about it and concerned it for many times and I also said "Lets wait and see".
I have nothing to do with Japan and even I have some Japanese work mates in real life. Ridiculous?

What I said in my last post is also a good advice to you. To take it or not that's your issue and you can choose to believe that's my bias but actually that's not.

Or, if you just can't stand for that I put things so straightly. Then you should know it's just a individual's style and you can choose to accept or not. That's so easy. I will not pretend to be any other people at anytime.

You are a typical Japanese and I respect your work to your country.