Detention of Chinese skipper extended to Sept. 29 over collisions+

NAHA, Japan, Sept. 19 Kyodo -
A Japanese summary court on Sunday authorized prosecutors to extend their
detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat, which collided earlier this
month with two Japan Coast Guard vessels near the disputed Senkaku Islands, for
another 10 days until Sept. 29.
The Ishigaki Summary Court in Okinawa Prefecture made the decision on a request
by local prosecutors as the initial 10-day detention period it earlier approved
for Zhan Qixiong was set to expire Sunday.
The incident has developed into a diplomatic dispute, with Japanese and Chinese
officials exchanging protests at each other while China has repeatedly demanded
that the captain be released immediately.
China was quick to react to the latest development in Japan, with official
Chinese media reporting that the country suspended ministerial and higher level
exchanges with Japan as well as bilateral negotiations on increasing air routes
between their countries.
Zhan, 41, was arrested Sept. 8 by the Japan Coast Guard for allegedly causing
his vessel to collide with one of the Japanese patrol boats a day earlier in
Japanese waters and was later sent to prosecutors.
On Sept. 10, the summary court authorized the prosecutors to detain him for 10
days through Sunday.
The remaining 14 crew members of the Chinese trawler returned to China on Sept.
13 after Japan Coast Guard officers questioned them on a voluntary basis aboard
their vessel that was berthed at Ishigaki port in Okinawa Prefecture,
southwestern Japan.
Zhan is suspected of obstructing Japanese maritime police officers from
performing their duty by deliberately making his boat hit the Mizuki, one of
the Japan Coast Guard patrol boats which was pursuing it and ordering it to
stop, according to Japanese officials.
The trawler had hit another patrol boat, the Yonakuni, shortly before that.
Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the captain may have
conducted unlawful fishing in Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku
Islands, administered by Japan and claimed by both China and Taiwan.
Zhan is believed to have denied the allegations against him, according to
sources close to the investigations.
In China, there have been sporadic anti-Japanese protests in response to the
incident while the Chinese government has postponed bilateral talks with Japan
aimed toward signing a treaty on a joint gas field development in the East
China Sea.
But the Japanese government has maintained that it will handle the trawler
captain's case based on Japanese laws.
==Kyodo
2010-09-19 22:20:22


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