FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks attends the conference Communication Connecting Europe and Asia, in Brussels, Belgium September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested China’s government on Wednesday to take positive actions in the case of a Japanese man detained in Beijing, a top government spokesman said following a meeting between Abe and China’s vice president.

Japan confirmed on Monday that a Japanese man in his 40s had been detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing in September on suspicion of violating Chinese law.

Japanese media reported the detained man appears to be a professor at Hokkaido University and he is believed to have been accused of espionage.

“We strongly request China take positive actions on a Japanese man detained,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters when asked about the meeting between Abe and Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in Tokyo on Wednesday.

He refrained from giving further details, but said the same message had been conveyed to China at various levels, including during a foreign ministers’ meeting between the two nations.

Thirteen Japanese civilians have been detained in China on suspicion of engaging in spying activities since 2015, the Asahi newspaper said.

Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore