Yasukuni ‘saboteur’ released

Source:Global Times Published: 2012-6-21 0:25:03

The head of the Beijing Botanical Garden who was arrested for "sabotaging" property at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo has been released by police, according to Japanese media.

According to a report yesterday on jnocnews.jp, the website of a Chinese-language newspaper in Japan that quoted the report of TBS TV (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television), the 45-year-old man removed a plastic poster board from a cherry tree at the controversial shrine and stepped on it until it was damaged.

After his arrest, the man told the police that he felt sorry for the cherry tree when he saw it was "burdened" by the board.

"As a botanist, I can't tolerate not doing anything about it," TBS quoted him as saying, without giving his name.

The tree was planted by Japanese troops who returned from their invasion of China during World War II, the report said.

Tokyo police determined that the man had no political intentions and released him. He returned to China on June 6.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said yesterday at a regular briefing that it was a "normal incident" and has been "solved well."

The garden, located in western Beijing, was not available for comment yesterday.



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