Missing Chinese Ambassador to Iceland Arrested for Espionage
19 October 2018 19:11 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of media reports claimed that Chinese authorities have arrested the Chinese ambassador for Iceland, Ma Jiseng, over suspicions of espionage. The 57 years old career diplomat who had previously worked for the Chinese embassy in Japan, is alleged to have been working as a spy for Japan.
Ma had worked as a secretary at the Chinese embassy in Japan between 1991 and 1995, before rising through the ranks to become a Ministerial Advisor between 2004 and 2008. Prior to his appointment as the Chinese ambassador for Iceland, Ma worked as a deputy director for information at Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He arrived and began working as the Chinese ambassador for Iceland since December 2012. However, a number of Icelandic media reported that Ma left in a rush for Beijing on January 23, 2013, after informing his staff that he would return in March 2014. His wife followed him to Beijing soon after he departed.
As of today, almost eight months after their departure, Ma and his wife has yet to return to the Icelandic capital. Rumours began to emerge when online news portal Mingjing News published a story which claimed that Ma and his wife had been arrested by Chinese authorities after returning to Beijing over allegations of "spying for Japan."
Shortly after the story was published by Mingjing News, Kai Lei, an editor of Wenweipo, a Chinese newspaper based in Hong Kong, wrote that Ma were arrested by the Ministry of State Security for suspicions of leaking classified documents to Japanese intelligence.
According to the reports, Ma is believed to have been recruited by Japanese intelligence during his second assignment in Tokyo between 2004 and 2008.
What's interesting, is that reports of Ma's arrest began to disappear mere hours after the initial story was published.
Iceland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was questioned by the press about Ma's disappearance, said that the Chinese embassy in Reykjavik had said that Ma was unable to resume his duties as ambassador due to "personal reasons."
INTELNEWS.ORG | THE GUARDIAN | ABDUL MANAN