Man arrested after demonstrator sets fire to ancestral tablet and displays banner reading: ‘Lest we forget the Nanking massacre’
A Hong Kong man was on Wednesday arrested in Japan on suspicion of starting a fire inside a war shrine at the centre of the country’s frayed relationship with its Asian neighbours.
The 55-year-old man allegedly lit a fire inside the grounds of Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which honours 2.5 million war dead but also enshrines second world war criminals.
The blaze was quickly extinguished with no report of any damage or injuries, according to local media.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of trespassing, and a woman was also detained, the reports said.
Hong Kong’s No 2 official, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said the government had been in touch with the Chinese embassy in Tokyo and the office of the Chinese foreign ministry in Hong Kong.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s centre for consular protection and services said the embassy had asked to visit the pair.
