A Japanese diplomat posted in Shanghai who committed suicide in May 2004 was pressured to divulge secrets to Chinese intelligence officers, according to suicide notes obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday.

According to the suicide notes, the 46-year-old official was pressed to reveal the backgrounds of Japanese Consulate General officials in Shanghai and the names of their local contacts.

The notes detail the elaborate and persistent tactics adopted by the Chinese authorities. Along with the notes, the Japanese government also has in its possession a document written in Chinese that is believed to have been used by Chinese authorities to put pressure on the diplomat.

The suicide notes and the document apparently contradict Beijing's claim that it had nothing to do with the diplomat's suicide and support Japanese claims that China violated the Vienna Convention.

The diplomat was in charge of communications between the consulate and the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. He reportedly left five suicide notes to the consul general in Shanghai, his family and colleagues. All the notes had been typed on a personal computer.

In a five-page letter to the consul general, the diplomat itemized the background of the incidents leading up to his suicide, from the moment he was approached by a Chinese man until his decision to kill himself. The end of the note is signed and dated May 5, 2004.

According to the note, in June 2003, Chinese intelligence officers detained a woman working at a karaoke bar with whom the diplomat was having a relationship on suspicion of prostitution. The woman was released without charge and then persuaded to act as a liaison with the diplomat.

Fearing his relationship with the woman would be revealed, the diplomat met with Chinese authorities--a man who identified himself as a captain of a public safety squad and a female interpreter--from December of that year.

Initially, the conversations did not include sensitive topics, but this changed when a document written in Chinese was mailed to the diplomat's residence on Feb. 20, 2004.

The document was from a man claiming to be an official of the Chinese State Security Ministry, which monitors espionage activities by foreign agents.

The person asked for a meeting with one of three officials at the Shanghai consulate--the diplomat, the consul general or the chief consul. The document included a cell phone number and instructed the diplomat to call the number using a pay phone between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. each Friday or Sunday.

The diplomat contacted the captain of the public safety squad to discuss what to do. About two weeks later, the diplomat was told, "The perpetrator [of the letter] has been arrested," meaning that the problem was solved.

The diplomat wrote in his suicide note that he realized at that time the whole situation had been created by the captain to set him up.

After the incident, the captain's attitude toward the diplomat changed. On May 2, shortly after the diplomat's transfer to Sakhalin island was decided, the captain questioned him and said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Showing the diplomat a list of all the staff at the consulate, the captain pressed him to reveal each staff member's career background. He then threatened the diplomat for information, saying: "You're a telecommunications officer. I know all the reports are sent through you. Give me the names of Chinese people consulate officials have met."

In the end, the man told him: "What will you bring next time you see me? These are things we're interested in. You know what they are."

After about three hours of intimidation, the diplomat gave in and agreed to cooperate. The two agreed to meet again on May 6 at 7 p.m.

After the meeting, the diplomat realized he would be asked about the consulate's cryptographic system for sending coded messages. On May 5, the day before the meeting, the diplomat wrote his suicide notes. He killed himself the morning of the following day at a consulate building.

In the notes, the diplomat wrote, "When I think about the suffering I will experience as a result of selling my country to the Chinese, I realize I only have this option."

"Unless I sell Japan out, it's unlikely I will be able to leave here. So I have chosen this path," he added.

Article 40 of the Vienna Convention requires receiving countries to take all necessary measures to ensure diplomats' freedom and physical protection.

Yomiuri