Hong Kong police said Thursday the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, which handles serious criminal cases, arrested a 24-year-old man Wednesday on suspicion of sending threatening letters to Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.
The police statement said the man was arrested for "criminal intimidation, and initial inquiries revealed the man was suspected in connection with a case in which some threatening letters were sent from Hong Kong to senior government officials of Japan."
A police spokeswoman said the man was arrested under an ordinance that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Chief Superintendent of Police Public Relations Branch Wong Fung Yee declined to provide further details, saying only the case is under investigation.
A letter, postmarked in Hong Kong, containing a box-cutter blade, was sent to Abe's office in Yamaguchi Prefecture with a warning that he not visit Yasukuni Shrine, staff at the office said Monday.
The letter was the second one Abe has received in recent days. He said he got another threatening letter on July 6, also from Hong Kong, warning he would be killed if he visited the shrine.
That letter was delivered to the Prime Minister's Official Residence.