Japan accuses ethnic Chinese man of spying over sale of ‘highly detailed’ 3D map to buyer in China
- The map was of the sort typically used for infrastructure development and disaster prevention purposes, according to the company that produced it
- Police said they believe it may have been taken to China for military purposes as part of a transnational espionage operation
The 60-year-old resident of Saitama Prefecture – who was a Chinese national before becoming a naturalised Japanese citizen – is suspected of buying the digital data from NTT Data Corporation by telling the information technology firm he would use it for his own marketing purposes, investigative sources said on Thursday.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau has been working on the case since last year, searching for leads as to who the man has been in contact with, the sources said.
Police believe the map, bought from NTT Data for 2 million yen (US$18,850) under a contract that prohibited its sale to a third party, may have been taken to China for military purposes.
According to the tech firm, the highly accurate map was compiled using data from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s satellite, among other sources. The data, typically used for infrastructure development and disaster prevention purposes, is detailed enough to confirm the height and shape of buildings as well as topographical features.
The 60-year-old is also suspected of handing over other types of information to the Chinese, the sources said without elaborating.
