Justice has a long arm. Two suspects in the killing of three Japanese tourists were arrested after 11 years on the run.

Cao Xiude and Hai Ting, both residents of Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China, were arrested last Friday at home by local police. Police believe they are connected to a 1993 multiple homicide in Xi'an, capital of northwest Shaanxi Province.

On the morning of June 8, 1993, three Japanese tourists aged between 60 and 70 were found dead in a corridor leading to the lobby of ANA Grand Castle Hotel in Xi'an, one of the hottest tourism destinations in China.

"On the spot of the homicide we found a number of clues which showed that the purpose of the killings was money," local police said.

Efforts to catch the killers have been ongoing since then.

Earlier this year, a nationwide drive to solve old murder cases kicked off around the country and Xi'an police revived the old file.

On July 4, police in Guigang, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, found new leads using high-technology means. The new information caught the attention of the Ministry of Public Security. The ministry organized local police in Shaanxi and Guangxi to investigate further and arrest the two suspects.

On the evening of July 9, Cao Xiude and Hai Ting were arrested in the city of Guilin.

Xi'an police announced the arrest on Tuesday. The two suspects' fingerprints were matched to fingerprints found at the scene of the murder.

Local police said the murdered Japanese tourists were two brothers and a sister who were in Xi'an for one night before being killed.

Cao Xiude and Hai Ting, then 23 and 18 respectively, left Xi'an shortly after the killings, local police said.

(China Daily July 15, 2004)