Japan releases Chinese fishing captain
In a bid to defuse escalating tensions, Japanese officials free the
fisherman who strayed into disputed waters and whose boat rammed into
Japanese patrol boats. China is barely mollified.
September 24, 2010|By Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/24/world/la-fg-china-japan-20100925
Reporting from Beijing — Japan released the Chinese fishing boat
captain Saturday whose detention after straying into disputed waters
had enraged Beijing and sparked the worst diplomatic crisis between
the long-contentious neighbors in years.
Zhan Qixiong flew out of Ishigaki airport in southern Japan after
mounting pressure and threats from Beijing had stirred fears of
serious economic repercussions for the island nation.
The announcement came as mounting pressure and threats from Beijing
stirred fears of serious economic repercussions for the island nation.
"Considering the future of Japan-China relations and the possible
consequences for the Japanese public, we decided that keeping the
suspect in custody and continuing the investigation was not
appropriate," Toru Suzuki, an with from the prosecutors' office in
Naha, Okinawa, told reporters in Japan.
The 15-man fishing crew was seized Sept. 8 after colliding with
Japanese coast guard vessels near disputed islands known as Diaoyu in
China and Senkaku in Japan. The rest of the crew was soon returned to
China.
But Japan has kept the captain in custody, accusing him of illegal
fishing and deliberately ramming his craft into the Japanese patrol
boats. This week, to the fury of Chinese officials, a Japanese court
had decided to extend his detention until Sept. 29.
News of the impending release was greeted in China with a mix of
satisfaction and lingering indignation.
"This was an action that gravely violated Chinese sovereignty and the
human rights of a Chinese citizen, and the Chinese government strongly
protests," said a Foreign Ministry statement after Qixiong flew home
in a chartered plane. "Japan must offer China an apology and
compensation over this incident."
In Japan, officials denied that politicians played a role in the
decision.
"The decision was the result of a somber process carried out under
Japanese law," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, the
government's top spokesman.
At the heart of the dispute are competing claims on the islands, which
are controlled by Japan but claimed by both China and Taiwan.
In recent years, an increasingly nationalistic Chinese public has
griped that the government has shown weakness by failing to press its
claims to the islands.
Like all irritations between the two longtime rivals, anger over the
fisherman's detention was deepened by the lingering bitterness in
China at Japan's invasion and brutal oppression during World War II.
At the United Nations this week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had called
upon Japan to "immediately and unconditionally" release the captain,
and warned of further repercussions if Tokyo ignored the threat.
Beijing already had canceled ministerial level contact with Tokyo and
Chinese travel agencies had been told to stop offering trips to Japan.
This week, as anger swelled, China made plain its willingness to take
further steps to win the captain's release.
On Friday, Japan's trade minister accused China's trade ministry of
instructing exporters of rare minerals used in electronics to halt
shipments to Japan. China denied the reports.
Meanwhile, Chinese state security officials told the official New
China News Agency that four Japanese citizens were being investigated
on suspicion of illegally entering a military zone. The men had
traveled to China's Hebei province this week to research a bid on a
project to dispose of abandoned chemical weapons, explained their
employer, Tokyo-based Fujita Corp.
Japan's uncharacteristically hard-line stance in detaining the captain
seemed, in part, an effort to demonstrate that it was willing to stand
up to China.
Some observers have suggested that Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara,
appointed just days ago in a cabinet reshuffle, had pushed for
resistance to China's demands.
"The release of the captain will help both governments contain the
damage, but the damage has already been done," said Jin Canrong, dean
of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. "The
government can see the possible danger in coming years. Japan is in a
political drift, and nobody is really taking charge. And we don't know
how to deal with Japan.
A security expert, Maehara has said that China's increased military
presence in the region is a "threat" and that Tokyo should "defend
Japan's sovereignty", referring to the disputed islands in the East
China Sea. This week Maehara appeared to soften slightly, suggesting
that Tokyo was open to high-level talks with Beijing.
megan...@latimes.com
Special correspondent Kenji Hall in Tokyo contributed to this report.