Japan said today that China has postponed a senior official's visit to Tokyo in an escalating diplomatic battle over the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain after a ship collision near islands claimed by both countries.
The captain was arrested after his ship collided nearly a week ago with two Japanese patrol boats near a set of disputed East China Sea islands, sparking a feud between the world's second and third-largest economies.
The dispute has prompted anti-Japanese activists in China and Taiwan - which also claims the islands - to sail to the area in protest missions, although both governments have sought to rein them in so as not to inflame tensions further.
Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, was scheduled to visit Japan for a five-day trip starting tomorrow at the invitation of the Japanese lower house of parliament.
But Beijing told Tokyo yesterday it wanted to delay Mr Li's visit for "various reasons," said Shu Kajita, an official at Japan's lower house of parliament. Mr Kajita said Chinese officials did not elaborate on the reasons for the postponement.
Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yoshito Sengoku called China's move "very regrettable."
"In times like these, lawmakers from both countries should be able to talk frankly," Mr Sengoku told reporters.
Japan sought to ease tensions yesterday by freeing 14 crew members of the Chinese trawler. But it continues to detain the captain, Zhan Qixiong. A Japanese court has granted prosecutors permission to keep the captain in custody until Sunday to decide whether to formally indict him on charges of obstructing public duties.
Beijing sees the case against the captain as a provocation against its claim of sovereignty over the disputed islands, called Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkakus in Japanese. Located about 190km east of Taiwan, the islands are controlled by Japan, but also claimed by Taiwan and China.
Japan seized the islands in 1895 when it colonised Taiwan. The islets were then administered by the United States after World War II until control was turned over to Japan in 1972. The islets are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are regularly occupied by activists from the countries involved.
Japan's transport minister Seiji Maehara said today territorial problems "do not exist in the East China Sea."
Meanwhile, three Taiwanese activists said they were returning to Taiwan after sailing to the disputed islets yesterday to promote Taiwan's claim to the area.
The activists said on their website they were stopped by two Japanese coast guard vessels off the disputed islets last night.
In Taipei, about 80 protesters gathered around the de facto Japanese embassy today, pelting the building with raw fish. Police held the crowd at the bay and there was no violence. Japan switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1972.
AP