Japan's handling absurd: FM

By Yu Miao

China Thursday called Japan's seizure this week of a Chinese trawler and the arrest of its captain "absurd, illegal and invalid," warning that it could adversely affect ties.

Two Japanese patrol boats collided with a Chinese fishing boat in waters off the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday. No injuries were reported from the collision, but Japan's coast guard handed the detained fishing boat captain Zhan Qixiong to prosecutors in Okinawa Prefecture Thursday.

"China will never accept the Japanese side's applying of domestic law to the Chinese fishing boat operating in that area," said Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry.

She called for the unconditional release of the crew and the boat, "so as to avoid a further escalation of the issue" and said a "law enforcement" ship had been sent to the area to "protect the safety" of the fishermen in the area.

However, a Japanese Coast Guard spokeswoman told AFP Thursday that "investigators had started inspecting the trawler and will soon start questioning the 14 fishermen on the boat."

Zhang faces the charge of obstructing officers on duty, which carries a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment.

The Chinese embassy in Tokyo has dispatched a team to Okinawa to meet the detained crew.

Although Beijing claims "indisputable sovereignty" over the uninhabited islands, Tokyo makes competing claims.

According to the Tokyo-based Asahi Shimbun newspaper, about 160 Chinese vessels were fishing near the islands Tuesday, and 30 of them were inside what Japan says are its territorial waters.

"During the first round of negotiations on the East China Sea issue in July, officials from China and Japan pledged to work together to build peace, cooperation and friendship in the region," Lü Yaodong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"However, this time, Japanese authorities detained the fishing boat without consult-ing with Beijing, and now they want to prosecute the Chinese crew under Japanese law. Their behavior shows their lack of sincerity in solving the East China Sea issue," Lü added.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Jiang urged the Japanese side to "keep a sober mind," on the highly sensitive issue of the territorial dispute.

"If not handled properly, (the issue) will seriously undermine the general situation of China- Japan relations," Jiang said.

"There are many causes behind disputes over territorial waters, including historical factors and economic factors. There are also holes in international laws covering maritime issues, which make the settlement of these issues long and grueling," Wang Shaopu, vice president of the Shanghai Society for Japanese Studies, told the Global Times.