BEIJING — Three of four Japanese nationals held in northern China for entering a restricted military zone amid a diplomatic feud between Beijing and Tokyo were released on Thursday, state media reported.
The move could help to ease tensions between the Asian neighbours, who have been embroiled in a dispute for more than three weeks, since Tokyo's arrest of a Chinese trawler captain in contested waters in the East China Sea.
The three Japanese nationals -- who were detained last week in Hebei province on September 24 -- were freed after admitting to violating Chinese law, the official Xinhua news agency said.
But the fourth person detained for illegally filming military sites, identified as Sada Takahashi, was still under investigation, the report said.
Their employer, Tokyo-based construction company Fujita, said they had been visiting the city of Shijiazhuang to prepare a bid for a project to dispose of chemical weapons left in China by invading Japanese forces in the 1930s.
An official at the Japanese embassy told AFP that they had not yet officially confirmed the release of the trio.
"We had consular access to the four Japanese nationals yesterday, but the Chinese side did not tell us they would be released," said the official, who asked not to be named.
The Chinese foreign ministry and police in Shijiazhuang declined immediate comment.
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