Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo
Tokyo, 14 February: The Japanese embassy in Beijing has told five relatives of Red Army Faction members living in North Korea it will issue documents authorizing their trip to Japan if they submit a written oath that they will comply with identification checks at Beijing airport, sources close to the case said Tuesday [13 February].
The embassy also told them they would not be allowed to enter China during the transit, the sources said.
The five are two wives and three daughters of Red Army Faction members who hijacked a Japan Airlines (JAL) jet in 1970 and forced it to land in Pyongyang, where the hijackers were granted political asylum.
Yukio Yamanaka, secretary-general of the Kyuen Renraku Centre and proxy for the kin, told Kyodo News he plans to accept the embassy's proposal.
Even if the five agree to the proposal, it will take some time for the embassy to issue the travel documents, forcing them to wait until March or later to take the trip.
The five, meanwhile, lodged a protest Tuesday demanding the embassy issue the travel documents immediately, the sources said.
The five are Emiko Akagi, the 45-year-old wife of Shiro Akagi, 53; Kyoko Tanaka, the 44-year-old wife of Yoshimi Tanaka, 52; their 21-year-old daughter; the 23-year-old daughter of Takahiro Konishi, 56; and the 21-year-old daughter of deceased member Takamaro Tamiya. Emiko Akagi and Kyoko Tanaka face arrest on their arrival in Japan on suspicion of violating the Passport Law.
Japan and North Korea do not have diplomatic ties and their travel to Japan will have to be via a third country, such as China.
Known as Sekigunha in Japan, the Red Army Faction was formed in 1969 and advocated global revolution through armed violence. A splinter group, the Japanese Red Army, broke away two years later and gained international notoriety in the 1970s through a series of terrorist acts abroad.
Source: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 1517 gmt 13 Feb 01
/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.
Text of report by Nancy Zamora carried Cuban news agency Prensa Latina
Beijing, 28 September: Rosa Elena Simeon, the Cuban minister of science, technology and the environment, today ended a four-day official visit to China, during which she completed a broad working agenda.
Simeon's visit was in response to an invitation from Xu Guanhua, the Chinese minister of science and technology, with the objective of increasing, in the areas under their jurisdiction, the traditional levels of the fraternal relations between both countries.
In a statement for Prensa Latina, Simeon described her trip as successful and stressed the climate of collaboration and mutual understanding that characterized her meetings with various personalities representing Chinese scientific institutions.
In a meeting between Simeon and Xu, both ministers agreed that favourable conditions exist to move forward to higher levels of cooperation with joint research projects, in order to obtain specific results which will contribute to developing both countries as well as others.
In addition, they agreed to work hard in that direction in preparation for the 19th Inter-governmental Meeting for Economic and Commercial Relations between Cuba and China, to be held in Beijing in November.
At present, there are 38 cooperation projects between Cuba and China through the exchange of experts, advice and workshops in various scientific-technical spheres.
In the new phase, emphasis will be put on bio-computer technology, seismology and biotechnology, among other sectors, without forgetting other fields in which both countries are already working.
Minister Simeon's agenda included a meeting with Song Jian, vice-chairman of the [Chinese] People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. During that meeting, they studied the possibility of making further progress in joint projects, particularly in the area of biotechnology.
Simeon also visited the Municipality of Tianjin southeast of Beijing, where she toured special development areas of advanced technology.
Simeon also met directors and experts of the state bureaus of Seismology, Meteorology and Environment, the Development Centre for Joint Projects in Biotechnology and the Academy of Social Sciences. (...)
/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.