China puts off legislator's Japan visit, Tokyo voices regret

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BEIJING/TOKYO, Sept. 14 Kyodo -
China said Tuesday it has postponed a senior legislator's visit to Japan amid a
dispute over ship collisions last week off a chain of islands in the East China
Sea, while Japan expressed ''strong regret'' over Beijing's action.
''Taking into consideration all elements, China has decided to postpone an NPC
delegation's visit to Japan,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu
said, referring to a planned five-day visit to Japan from Wednesday by Li
Jianguo, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress.
Jiang criticized Japan for ''provoking a serious situation'' in bilateral
relations and urged Tokyo to release the captain of a Chinese fishing boat
''immediately and safely.''
''Japan has to take all the responsibility'' for affecting bilateral ties, she
said at a news conference.
The dispute stems from collisions on Sept. 7 between a Chinese fishing boat and
two Japan Coast Guard ships near the disputed Senkaku Islands, administered by
Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. The islands are known in China as
Diaoyu and in Taiwan as Tiaoyutai.
On Monday, Japan released the 14 crew members and the Chinese trawler, but the
captain remains detained as Japanese authorities suspect him of deliberately
causing his vessel to collide with one of the Japanese patrol boats.
''It is very regrettable'' that Li will not come on Wednesday as planned,
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said at a news conference in
Tokyo.
''The two countries' legislators should meet and engage in frank discussions
away from the level of the central government,'' the top government spokesman
said.
The ship collisions also caused China to postpone talks with Japan aimed at
signing a treaty on joint gas field development in the East China Sea.
On the arrest of the captain, Zhan Qixiong, 41, Sengoku reiterated Tokyo's
stance that it is dealing with the incident in line with domestic law.
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada also stressed the need for Japan to
respond to the collision case ''calmly,'' by treating the matter separately
from the postponement of Li's visit and the gas development talks.
Calling Japan's action ''illegal,'' Jiang said, ''It is imperative that Japan
immediately stop so-called legal procedures and let the captain return
immediately and safely.''
The spokeswoman added that the Chinese public has expressed strong anger over
Japan's handling of the incident.
The Chinese Embassy in Japan informed the secretariat of Japan's House of
Representatives of the postponement of Li's trip around 11 a.m. Monday over the
phone, secretariat officials said.
His visit had been planned as the sixth under an exchange program between
Japan's lower house and China's legislature launched in 2005.
Li was to have met with veteran Japanese lawmakers such as House of
Representatives Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi, his predecessor Yohei Kono and
House of Councillors President Takeo Nishioka in Tokyo.
At a press conference, Okada dismissed a claim in some Chinese media reports
that it was the Japanese patrol boats that hit the Chinese trawler. ''I saw
video footage held by the Coast Guard and it is clear that the Chinese trawler
hit the Japanese ships as they sustained damage to their rear and side parts,''
the minister said.
Masayuki Naoshima, Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry, separately
said he ''regrets China's unilateral decision'' to put off the gas development
talks just when the two countries agreed at their summit meeting this year to
hold dialogue at the director-general level.
Naoshima told reporters, however, he does not believe the collision case will
have an immediate impact on bilateral trade.
==Kyodo
2010-09-14 23:26:09