Beijing, March 27: Chinese police have arrested a man suspected of poisoning frozen dumplings destined for Japan, in an incident that strained relations between the two countries, state media reported.
Lu Yueting, 36, is suspected of injecting poison into the dumplings while working at a factory in northern China, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the security ministry.
Tokyo had been pressing Beijing to investigate the case of the pesticide-tainted frozen dumplings after 10 people fell ill in Japan in January 2008.
Lu confessed that he intentionally contaminated the food and led police to syringes used to commit the crime, Xinhua reported late Friday.
Authorities described Lu as a disgruntled worker who was unsatisfied with his pay and did not get along with colleagues. They accused him of acting out of revenge.
Chinese and Japanese authorities investigated the plant after the incident but the source of the poison was not found.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has moved to improve ties with China since coming to power six months ago, but has also repeatedly said concerns over the safety of imported Chinese food were an “obstacle.”
“We value the efforts by the Chinese side and hope that the case will be fully brought to light,” Hatoyama said, according to Japanese media in Tokyo.
“We will continue close contact with the Chinese side,” Hatoyama said. “Hopefully this case will be resolved quickly in order for Japan-China relations to develop further.”
On Friday, Beijing issued a 2010 plan on food safety, calling on all levels of government to step up inspections at every link in the food production chain.
—Agencies