Tokyo (AFP) – Two Japanese tourists in their 20s were detained for two weeks in China then deported for taking photos showing exposed buttocks at the Great Wall, local media reported.
The incident at the World Heritage site near Beijing concerned a man who showed his bottom and a woman who took photos, NTV and other Japanese media outlets reported on Thursday.
Tokyo’s foreign ministry said Friday that “the Embassy of Japan in China confirmed on January 3 that two Japanese nationals were detained by local authorities at the Great Wall.”
They “were subsequently released and returned to Japan during January”, it said in a statement.
The Japanese embassy in Beijing did not reply to requests for comment.
The tourists were detained on the spot by security guards and held for around two weeks, the reports said, citing sources.
Exposing the lower half of the body in a public place is against the law in China, according to the reports.
The tourists reportedly told the Japanese embassy they did it as a prank.
The reports sparked outrage in China, where memories of atrocities committed during Japan’s colonial occupation of the country in the 1930s and 40s still inspire strong feelings.
A hashtag translating to “Japanese man and woman detained for indecent behaviour at the Great Wall” had been viewed over 60 million times on social media platform Weibo by Friday morning.
Many top-liked comments blasted the tourists for the act, with some using hateful language toward Japanese people.
One comment by Chinese actor Chen Yitian, who has over 7 million followers on the platform, condemned them for doing “shameful things on my Great Wall”.
Others suggested China ban all Japanese visitors.
Deportation is still an overreaction for something harmless. Just fine them and don’t let them back in. Do misbehaving Chinese tourists get deported?
Well, they didn’t misbehave, they broke the law. And yes, at least in the US, breaking the law, especially in an indecent way like this, would get you expelled from the US. And the stay in jail would probably be longer, too.
If you are in public, just don’t be a creep and don’t expose yourself. Especially somewhere school kids on field trips kids will be. That’s gross.
Sure, but getting arrested at the border because some bumfuck agent thinks you might be working in the US is way worse, even if this is bad.