Japan mulls fate of pro-China group after landing

Japan was on Thursday considering what to do with 14 people it arrested after pro-China activists landed on a disputed island, as Beijing angrily demanded their immediate release. Five of the activists, who were arrested on the island, were in the Okinawan capital Naha where they would face questioning, police said. The other nine detained at sea were set to arrive later in the day. "They were already taken to Naha city (in Okinawa), and questioning will start today at separate police stations," a local police officer told AFP, referring to those arrested on land. Journalists from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV were among the nine who were arrested at sea as their boat prepared to move away from the island."The nine arrested yesterday are to arrive at the port of Naha in the evening," a spokesman at the local coast guard said. The Okinawan prefectural police are expected to either turn the detainees over to immigration authorities for deportation or send the case to prosecutors for further investigation. The case is a delicate one for Japan, which has to balance popular annoyance at the landing with vehement demands from China for the immediate release of the group. The consensus in local media on Thursday was that the authorities would deport the 14 within a few days, to avoid a repeat of the diplomatic bloody nose Japan received after holding a Chinese trawlerman for two weeks in 2010. © AFP A Hong Kong boat near disputed islands in the East China Sea © AFP/Japan Coast Guard On that oOn that occasion, Tokyo was widely criticised as having caved in to Chinese pressure and being forced into releasing the man after Beijing halted high level contacts and stymied trade. The group of activists had sailed from Hong Kong on Sunday to the archipelago, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, where pictures show they raised Chinese and Taiwanese flags. Under Japanese law, a foreigner who does not have permission to be in Japan can be turned over to immigration authorities for immediate deportation when the individual is not facing other criminal charges. In 2004, when a group of Chinese activists landed on a disputed island, then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered their deportation after two days.