TOKYO – The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on Jan 30 renewed its advice for Chinese citizens to avoid travelling to Japan after a hefty cash robbery took place on the streets of the Japanese capital on Jan 29.

The call, made on the official WeChat account, comes after a group of two Chinese and three Japanese nationals

were allegedly robbed of suitcases containing some 420 million yen (S$3.46 million)

in Tokyo’s Ueno district, with one of the Chinese pepper-sprayed. The suspects remain at large.

The embassy has asked Japanese police to swiftly solve the robbery case and take effective measures to protect the lives and property of Chinese nationals in Japan, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.

It urged those already in the country to closely monitor local public security conditions and strengthen personal safety precautions, according to the news agency. KYODO NEWS