China-Japan relations tense over boat issue

Diplomatic tensions between China and Japan have escalated when Beijing called in Japan's ambassador after a Chinese fishing boat collided with two Japanese patrol vessels near a chain of disputed islands and Tokyo arrested the boat's captain.

The Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao summoned Japanese Ambassador Uichiro Niwa and urged Japan to stop the "illegal interception" of Chinese fishing boats.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Wednesday he doesn't believe the arrest of the Chinese captain would affect Tokyo's ties with Beijing.
He said the matter will be handled firmly "in accordance with law."

In Beijing, there was a small, organised protest Wednesday in front of the Japan Embassy in Beijing.

FACTBOX

Preliminary statistics indicate China has edged past Japan to become the world's second biggest economy, with the United States remaining the world's biggest by far.

China has been Japan's biggest trading partner since 2009.

China and Japan are the world's first- and second-biggest holders of foreign reserves.

A series of strikes in China have hit Japanese firms in recent months, including suppliers to Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Corp.

Historical Tensions

Japan invaded and occupied much of China from 1931 to 1945. Bitterness over Japan's wartime atrocities has faded as a diplomatic flashpoint, but still underpins widespread Chinese public distrust of Japan.

China has decried high-profile visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead. Among those honoured at the shrine are 14 Class A war criminals convicted by an Allied tribunal after World War Two.

Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, made annual visits to the shrine while in office.

His successors have stayed away from the controversial shrine.

China wants Japan to clearly back Beijing's "one China" policy. Japan says it accepts that, but many politicians and businesses have close ties with Taiwan, a former Japanese colony.

China and Japan are both part of stalled six-party talks seeking to end North Korea's nuclear arms programme. But Japan is more critical of the North and joined international condemnation of Pyongyang over the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March.

China, the North's main diplomatic and economic backer, instead urged restraint from all sides.

The two countries are at odds over China's exploration for natural gas in the East China Sea. In 2008, they agreed on principles to solve the feud by jointly developing gas fields. Progress has been slow and Japan has accused China of drilling for gas in violation of the deal, though talks are continuing.

Tokyo and Beijing claim sovereignty over a group of East China Sea islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Japan has been worried by China's military modernisation, especially its double-digit defence spending and expanding naval reach. In May, Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing, claiming a Chinese ship had violated Japan's sovereign rights by approaching a Japanese survey vessel. (Reuters)

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