Japanese ship freed in Shanghai after wartime compensation paid

A maritime court in Shanghai has released a Japanese commercial ship impounded in eastern China, after the ship's owner paid a compensation claim dating back to the second World War.

The freighter, named Baosteel Emotion and owned by Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines, was seized a week ago at a port in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing are running high as the two cities spar over the ownership of an uninhabited archipelago, known to Japan as the Senkaku islands and to China as the Diaoyu islands.

China also complains Japan has not done enough to atone for its invasion in 1931 and its often brutal occupation of China until the end of the war.

The court released the vessel after its owner paid 2.9 billion Japanese yen (€20.5 million) in delayed rent and losses to a Chinese firm. Mitsui also paid 2.4 million yuan in court fees.

Sunk
In 1936, Mitsui's predecessor, Daido Shipping Co, rented two ships on a one-year contract from Zhongwei Shipping Co. The ships were commandeered by the Imperial Japanese Navy and were sunk during the war, reports said.

The Japanese firm was sued in 1988, and in 2007 the maritime court ruled that it should compensate Zhongwei. Mitsui appealed, but in 2010 Shanghai Municipal Higher People’s Court made a final verdict, defending the 2007 judgment.

It is the first time the assets of a Japanese company have been confiscated in a lawsuit relating to wartime or occupation compensation, the Kyodo news agency reported. Japan warned the seizure of a Japanese ship in Shanghai over prewar debts could undermine their diplomatic relationship.

'Deeply worried '
"It could also intimidate Japanese companies doing business in China as a whole, and hence Japan is deeply worried and strongly expects China to take appropriate measures," said Japan's chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the seizure was solely for delayed rent and losses owed to a Chinese firm. “It is unrelated to wartime compensation.”