Video twist to Japan-China row

The video sheds some light on the chain of events

A diplomatic row between Japan and China over North Korean asylum seekers has taken a new twist after video footage showed Chinese guards dragging two women and a child from Japan's consulate in Shenyang, north east China.

Japan has lodged a strong protest against what it said was a violation of international diplomatic conventions and demanded that China hand the people back.

China has stepped up security around embassies

But a video, shown on Japanese television on Friday, contradicts earlier accounts of what happened and has thrown Japanese staff into the spotlight.

Earlier reports said two men out of a group of five North Koreans succeeded in rushing into the Japanese consulate on Wednesday, before being seized by Chinese police despite the protests of Japanese diplomatic staff.

But the video showed that two women and a child also made it into the compound before being dragged out by Chinese police.

The video shows the two women, one with the child on her back, being wrestled to the ground as the toddler screamed.

Several people who appeared to be Japanese consulate staff stood watching and made no move to intervene. At least one of those people later picked up caps lost by the Chinese police during the scuffle and returned them.

Asylum move

The Japanese foreign ministry is sending an official to the consulate to look further into what happened, after admitting the reaction of the diplomats had been inadequate.

China says the action was to ensure security, but this explanation is completely unacceptable

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi

"Their reaction could have been a bit different," said Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi.

Japan may also send a higher-level official to Beijing depending on how China handles the row.

The BBC's correspondent in Beijing says the incident could turn into a major diplomatic spat, as any uninvited entry into the consulate by Chinese police would be a serious violation of diplomatic status.

The asylum attempt was the latest in a series of moves by North Koreans to enter foreign embassies and consulates in China.

Three North Koreans asylum seekers are still in the US consulate in Shenyang, where US and Chinese officials are continuing talks about their future.

In March, 25 North Koreans successfully entered the Spanish embassy in Beijing demanding political asylum in South Korea. They threatened to kill themselves if China sent them back to the North.

Beijing regards the tens of thousands of North Koreans in China as economic migrants who must be sent home. But in this and similar cases, the asylum seekers were allowed to go to South Korea, prompting other groups to try similar tactics.