http://www.japantoday.com/category/...e-student-leader-wuer-kaixi-arrested-in-tokyo
Saturday 05th June, 06:15 AM JST
TOKYO —
Wuer Kaixi, one of the Chinese pro-democracy student leaders during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, was arrested Friday on suspicion of trespassing on the premises of the Chinese embassy in central Tokyo, police said.
Wuer, 42, visited the embassy to join a protest on the 21st anniversary of Beijing’s bloody crackdown on thousands of democracy protesters. But he abruptly said he would turn himself in.
The embassy refused to admit Wuer, prompting him to forcibly enter the premises before he was apprehended by an officer.
Wuer told Kyodo News in a recent interview that he hoped to end his exile and prove his innocence to the Chinese government in court after returning to China.
‘‘I’m bearing hope that turning myself in it can be the only way that I see my parents again, even if it has to be a prison visit,’’ Wuer said in the interview, referring to his 74-year-old father and 68-year-old mother.
Wuer allegedly entered several meters into the premises of the embassy by climbing over a fence at the entrance, the police said. Wuer said he will not speak about anything until his lawyer arrives, according to the police.
Wuer was one of the best-known student leaders of the 1989 pro-democracy protests and is number two on Beijing’s most-wanted list. He fled China after the violence broke out and eventually settled in Taiwan, where he works as an investment banker.
According to sources close to the matter, after arriving in Japan on Wednesday, Wuer tried to fly to Beijing from Narita airport, but he was not allowed to check in. Even though he had purchased a flight ticket in advance, his name had been deleted from the passenger list, the sources said.
In June last year, Wuer tried to turn himself in to Chinese authorities in Macao. However, he was forcibly put on a plane back to Taiwan a day after arriving at Macao International Airport.
In the interview, Wuer said the Chinese government has prevented his parents from traveling outside the country.
‘‘This kind of behavior of the Chinese government should be condemned all over the world. This is barbaric and this kind of action contravenes all the human rights treaties’’ they have signed, Wuer said, adding, ‘‘It contravenes human decency, and contravenes even their own laws.’‘
Wuer emphasized that his latest move should not be interpreted as admitting any wrongdoing back in 1989.
He said he wants to call on the Chinese government for dialogue on the issue of the Tiananmen student movement.
‘‘I would like to take this action to go back to China to continue to press the Chinese government for that dialogue, even if this dialogue has to take place in a courtroom,’’ he said.
