Tokyo to launch probe into Zhuhai hotel orgy
( 2003-10-08 08:51) (China Daily)
Japan will investigate reports that a group of Japanese tourists hired
hundreds of prostitutes for an orgy in a Zhuhai hotel in Guangdong Province on
the eve of a sensitive anniversary relating to the Japanese occupation of China,
a top government spokesman said in Tokyo Tuesday.
Japan's Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said that Tokyo was told on Sunday by the Guangdong
authorities that they had verified Japanese tourists took part in the
orgy.
"If it took place, then it is truly regrettable," he said, adding
that it wasn't clear how many people were involved.
Chinese police have
already detained suspects and closed the Zhuhai International Conference Centre
Hotel where more than 400 Japanese male tourists allegedly had sex with some 500
Chinese prostitutes from September 16-18. The date marks the onset of attacks by
Japanese forces in 1931 that saw the start of the 14-year occupation of
China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan called the case
"extremely odious" and asked the Japanese Government to "strengthen education of
its citizens in this regard".
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also
said the incident had sparked strong fury among Chinese people and called on
Tokyo to "enhance law-abiding awareness among its citizens travelling abroad to
safeguard Japan's international image".
The men taking part in the orgy
were believed to be part of a company tour, and Fukuda said the government would
launch an investigation into the firm. He did not elaborate.
The fracas
has also been carried prominently by Japanese media, which have reported the
tourists were in China as part of a trip arranged by a construction company
based in the western Japan city of Osaka.
The name of the company has
been withheld by the media.
A spokesman for the company acknowledged that
some employees were at the hotel at the time but denied there had been an
organized orgy.
"Some of the employees may have done something like that
(patronizing prostitutes) and that may have led to a misunderstanding," a
company official said earlier.
Wide coverage of the orgy in the Chinese
media sparked fury across the country, especially on the Internet.
Netizens left hundreds of postings on websites accusing the tourists of
trying to humiliate China by timing the orgy on the date of the 1931 Japanese
attack on the northeastern city of Shenyang in Liaoning Province.
After
the initial reports surfaced, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said
she regretted "the kind of act that would damage women's dignity" and urged
Japanese tourists to obey the laws of China.
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