China halts ministerial-level contacts with Japan
Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING – China has suspended high-level contacts with Japan over the extended detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain arrested after a collision near disputed islands, state broadcaster CCTV said Sunday.
CCTV said Japan's refusal to release the boat captain has "already caused serious damage to Sino-Japanese bilateral contacts." It said Beijing has suspended ministerial and provincial-level contacts, halted talks on aviation issues and postponed a meeting to discuss coal.
The spat between Tokyo and Beijing was sparked by the seizure of the Chinese captain after his vessel collided with two Japanese coast guard ships on Sept. 7 near islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries. The arrest and his ensuing detention have inflamed ever-present anti-Japanese sentiment in China.
The number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan has plunged because of the dispute, CCTV said. On Friday, a Beijing-based food company announced it would cancel a planned group tour to Japan for 10,000 people to reward employees, their families and business partners.
"The blame for such a situation totally falls on Japan. The Japanese side should immediately and unconditionally release the Chinese captain, or bear all the consequences," CCTV said. China has repeatedly called for his immediate release.
Beijing made the announcements shortly after a Japanese court approved a 10-day extension of captain Zhan Qixiong's detention.
"His detention was extended for further questioning. He will be held until Sept. 29," an official at the Naha Public Prosecutor's Office in Okinawa, southern Japan, said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Under Japanese law, prosecutors can hold a suspect for up to 20 days while deciding whether to file formal criminal charges. The first 10-day detention period ended Sunday.
The extension of Zhan's detention came a day after anti-Japanese protests broke out across China on the anniversary of the start of a brutal Japanese invasion in 1931.
While the protests occurred in several Chinese cities, Japan's new foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, said they were "sporadic" thanks to efforts by China to restrain them.
Maehara, a hawk who is expected to take a tough stance in relations with China, again called on Beijing to handle the dispute calmly. He said Sunday the case was being handled in accordance with Japanese law.
Maehara also reiterated the government's stance that there should be no territorial dispute over the islands because they are an "integral part of Japanese territory."
"Territorial issues do not exist in this region," Maehara said during a political talk show on public broadcaster NHK.
China, however, sees the captain's detention and possible prosecution under Japanese law as a provocation and challenge to its claim of sovereignty over the islands.
Japan last week sought to ease tensions by freeing 14 crew members from the Chinese trawler and returning the boat.
Associated Press Writer Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100919/ap_on_re_as/as_china_japan_ships_collide
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