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Japan releases crew of Chinese trawler
AFP, TOKYO
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2010, Page 1
A detained Chinese fishing trawler is flanked
by two Japan Coast Guard vessels during an investigation by Japanese authorities
near Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Japan yesterday released the 14 crew members of a Chinese fishing trawler that
collided with two Japan Coast Guard vessels in disputed waters last week, but
kept its captain in detention.
The incident has sparked a diplomatic row between the Asian powers, with China
calling off planned talks over contested oil and gas fields in the East China
Sea and summoning Tokyo¡¦s ambassador four times to protest.
Japan¡¦s top government spokesman Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said
questioning of the crew had been completed, meaning there was no reason to keep
them in Japan, and that prosecutors had also finished collecting evidence from
the ship.
Just before noon, the Chinese fishermen left the airport on Japan¡¦s far-southern
Ishigaki Island on a chartered flight, Kyodo News agency reported.
Another skipper was flying over from China to return the fishing boat to its
home port, Sengoku added.
The fishing boat¡¦s captain, Zhan Qixiong (¸â¨ä¶¯), was arrested on Wednesday last
week on suspicion of obstructing officers on duty, a charge that carries up to
three years in prison, and a court has since approved his continued detention.
¡§We will handle this as a criminal case based on Japanese domestic law,¡¨ Sengoku
told a press briefing.
Tokyo suspects the trawler captain deliberately rammed two Japanese patrol
vessels on Tuesday last week near a disputed island chain between Japan¡¦s
Okinawa Islands and Taiwan, an archipelago called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyutai
in Taiwan and China.
Four Japanese patrol boats later pursued and seized the Chinese trawler.
The uninhabited islands are claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei and are a
frequent focus of regional tensions.
The row has cast a cloud over what had been a steady improvement in relations
between the traditional East Asian rivals in recent years, as their economic
relationship has deepened.
The dispute escalated on Saturday when a Chinese vessel confronted two Japanese
survey ships at sea and Beijing called off talks with Tokyo set for later this
month over their competing maritime claims in the area.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said any evidence collected by Japan on the
collision would be ¡§illegal, invalid and in vain.¡¨
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