Two Japanese held for spying

Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga answers a question from a journalist during a press conference at the prime ministers official residence in Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015. China is holding two Japanese men on suspicion of spying, Japanese media reported Wednesday. One man was picked up in May near military facilities in coastal Zhejiang province and the other near the border with North Korea about the same time, Japans leading newspapers and television stations said. Suga told reporters that Japan does its utmost to protect citizens abroad, but that he would not discuss specific cases. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

BEIJING: China said it has arrested two Japanese citizens for suspected spying, a move likely to strain already tense ties between Asia’s two largest economies.

The detentions – the first since 2010 invol­ving Japanese on such charges – come as relations remain clouded by disputes over islands and Tokyo’s wartime history, despite close trade links.