MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2020) The actions of a Japanese citizen who was recently detained for attempting to collect secret materials will not influence the relations between Moscow and Tokyo, Deputy Chairman of the Russian lower house's Committee on International Affairs Aleksei Chepa told Sputnik on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Japanese national had been expelled from Russia for an attempt to obtain classified materials about Russia's military potential in the Far East after he was detained on Sunday. The ministry added that the minister-counselor of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow was summoned to be handed a note of protest in connection with the unlawful actions of the Japanese citizen. The citizen was in Russia on a journalist visa.
"[There is no need to] raise the alarm and say that something terrible happened. I do not believe that something of great importance, which can influence the development of the relations between our countries, happened," Chepa said.
According to the lawmaker, that there is no need for checking Japanese journalists in Russia after the incident, as they are certainly not agents. At the same time, he said that some people might fulfill certain functions under the guise of journalistic activities and that is not surprising. Within this context, he added that each country had intelligence agencies to ensure its security, therefore it needed information from its own sources.
