2010-03-29 08:21

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Saturday commended Chinese authorities for detaining a suspect in a dumpling poisoning case, expressing hope the development will help deepen bilateral relations.

In a written statement, according to Kyodo News Agency, Hatoyama said he hopes "further progress will be made" in digging deeper into the case.

Traces of methamidophos were found in the frozen dumplings, produced in China, and sickened 10 people, of three families in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures between December 2007 and January 2008. Nine were hospitalized, the report said. Methamidophos, a highly toxic organophosphate insecticide, is used in great quantities in ricefields in China.

But Lu Yueting, a 36-year-old temporary factory worker, allegedly put it in those frozen dumplings, produced in a food factory in North China's Hebei Province, because he was unhappy with his pay and colleagues.

He has been arrested in China, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday, quoting a statement by the Ministry of Public Security. Police have found injectors used to poison the dumplings, the statement said. The case led to a diplomatic rift between the two Asian neighbors.

Japanese Foreign Ministry said early Saturday that Japan "respects efforts that have been made by the Chinese police and others involved" in the investigation and hopes "the arrest will shed more light" on the case.

"Great efforts have now been made by Chinese authorities to get it this far and this is a step forward setting the whole matter," Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said.

Still, Japan will send senior police officials to China to obtain information about the probe into the case, Kyodo News said. Poisoning victims in Japan and local officials voiced relief over the arrest.

"I'm very glad", Tokyo-based paper Japan Times quoted a 49-year-old woman who lives in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, who along with her husband and their child fell ill in January 2008 after eating some of the dumplings.

Yoshihiko Nagashima, head of the Ito-Yokado supermarket's Kakogawa branch where the family bought the dumplings, said: "I'm relieved to hear of the arrest, as I had been closely following developments in this case for the last two years."

Last October, Hatoyama and Premier Wen Jiabao agreed to pursue a new initiative to ensure food safety in the wake of the poisonings.