Japan plans to arrest China ship captain over collisions near Senkakus

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TOKYO, Sept. 8 Kyodo -
The Japan Coast Guard plans to arrest the captain of a Chinese ship on
suspicion of obstructing public duties in connection with collisions with Coast
Guard patrol boats near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea,
government sources said Tuesday.
The trawler captain, a 41-year-old Chinese national, ''will be taken to the
prosecutors or police nearby and will be (questioned) under Japanese
procedures,'' a senior government official said, with a government source
saying the skipper is likely to be taken to Ishigaki Island in Okinawa
Prefecture.
According to Coast Guard sources, the captain is suspected of having his ship
deliberately collide with one of the Japanese patrol boats chasing the Chinese
vessel, thus interfering with the Japanese authorities' duties.
The Coast Guard also plans to investigate the matter for a possible violation
of the fisheries law over the ship's alleged avoidance of its on-board
inspection.
Earlier in the day, two Coast Guard patrol boats and a Chinese fishing boat
collided in waters off the Japanese-controlled islands, known as the Diaoyu
Islands in China and the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, according to the Coast
Guard.
Japan and China filed protests against each other over the collisions. In
Tokyo, Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and
Oceanian Affairs Bureau, lodged a protest with Chinese Ambassador to Japan
Cheng Yonghua by phone, telling him that Japan intends to handle the incident
based on its domestic law.
In Beijing, Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao lodged a protest with Japanese
Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa in person, China's official Xinhua News Agency
reported.
The first collision occurred between a Coast Guard patrol boat and the fishing
boat in Japanese territorial waters shortly after the former found the latter
operating about 12 kilometers north-northwest of Kuba Island in the Senkaku
island chain at around 10:15 a.m.
No casualties or fuel leak have been reported from either vessel, but the
1,349-ton patrol boat Yonakuni's stern sustained minor damage after the fishing
vessel's bow hit it, the Coast Guard said.
The collision apparently occurred after the Chinese boat pulled up its fishing
net and began to sail away after being repeatedly ordered to leave the
territorial waters.
The trawler also collided with another Coast Guard patrol boat named the Mizuki
some 40 minutes later at around 10:55 a.m., the Coast Guard said, adding that
the patrol boat sustained damage on its starboard side.
A fleet of three Japanese patrol boats chased the Chinese vessel, which fled
the scene. Six Coast Guard members boarded the Chinese ship shortly before 1
p.m. outside the territorial waters and forced it to stop to conduct an
on-board inspection.
A total of 22 personnel boarded the Chinese vessel and questioned its 15 crew
members on suspicion of violating Japan's fisheries law for allegedly avoiding
Coast Guard inspections.
Meanwhile, Japan's Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji
Maehara said at a news conference Tuesday that any foreign vessel can sail
through Japanese territorial waters under the principle of innocent passage but
that no foreign fishing boat will be allowed to operate there.
Maehara, who has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard, said he has received no
reports of warning shots fried by Japanese patrol boats. He also noted the need
to confirm all the facts behind the collision.
In Beijing, Xinhua quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu as
saying the Diaoyu Islands and its adjacent islets have been Chinese territory
since ancient times.
China urged Japanese patrol boats to take no action to safeguard their assumed
rights in waters off the Diaoyu Islands and refrain from taking any action that
would threaten the security of Chinese fishing boats and their crew, Jiang was
quoted as saying.
''We will closely follow the situation and reserve our right to take further
action,'' Jiang said.
In June 2008, a Taiwan pleasure fishing boat and a Japanese patrol boat
collided in waters off the disputed islands. The Taiwan ship sank but all the
passengers and crew were rescued.
The Senkaku Islands are a group of uninhabited islets located in the East China
Sea between Okinawa and Taiwan. They are part of the city of Ishigaki in
Okinawa Prefecture.
China and Taiwan are said to have started claiming sovereignty over the islands
since offshore resources around them came to light around 1970.
Obstructing officers from performing their duties is a crime category
punishable in Japan by imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to
500,000 yen.
The fisheries law sets penalties of imprisonment of up to six months or a fine
of up to 300,000 yen for those who reject an inspection.
==Kyodo
2010-09-08 00:28:15