In reaction to the detention of Chinese fisherman, China called off a series of bilateral talks and threatened to substantively reduce the number of Chinese tourists’ travel to Japan. Tokyo has extended the captain’s detention from Sep 19 to 29. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a press release that China demands Japan immediately release the captain without any preconditions as China viewed the detention as “illegal and invalid.
As per Chinese news agency Beijing had suspended ministerial and provincial-level bilateral exchanges with Japan, halted talks on increasing flights between the two countries and postponed a meeting about coal with Japan. China has said more retaliatory actions would follow, if Japan clings obstinately to its own course and insists on making one mistake after another.
The incident took place when a Chinese ship had collided, allegedly deliberately, with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessels near a cluster of islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China. The Chinese name for the islands is the Diaoyu while the Japanese call them the Senkaku. The Japanese vessels chased, captured and took into custody the Chinese captain and its crew of 14 persons on suspicion of obstructing Japanese officials from discharging their public duty. After severe criticisms and warnings of dire consequences started form both sides.
