A Chinese specialist in Sino-Japanese affairs who has been living in Japan appears to have been detained by the Chinese government since late July and is being questioned about his activities, according to Chinese academics and a Japanese newspaper.
News of the apparent detention comes as relations between China and Japan have hit their lowest point in decades, and has sent tremors of fear through the small communities of Chinese and Japanese academics who live in each other's countries.
The Chinese government hinted but declined to confirm that the specialist, Zhu Jianrong, a professor at a university near Tokyo, was in custody after he traveled to his native Shanghai for a meeting July 17.
