China has put forward its own version of events at the Japanese Consulate in Shenyang last Wednesday to rebut Tokyo's claim that police illegally entered the compound and removed five North Korean asylum seekers.
The war of words broke out after the Japanese Government released an investigative report on Monday insisting its diplomats had not agreed to the removal of the North Koreans. It also said one consular worker had intervened to try to stop the removal, but had been unsuccessful.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has called the intrusion a violation of the Vienna Convention. Tokyo has demanded an apology and the handover of the five North Koreans, two of whom were taken from a room inside the consulate building by police.
Xinhua yesterday published an account of the events by Huang Xingyuan, an official in charge of news and information at the Chinese Embassy in Japan, which rejected the Japanese version.
Mr Huang claimed two Chinese officers had stopped three of the five North Koreans entering the consulate. Two others gained entry after a brief scuffle.
The two officers alerted their superiors, who met Vice-Consul Ken Miyashita and three Chinese assistants at the visa section of the consulate, he said.
Mr Huang said Mr Miyashita gave permission for the senior officers to enter the consulate and remove the two North Koreans.