Okada calls China undemocratic for demanding apology over collisions+

TOKYO, Sept. 25 Kyodo -
Former Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada criticized China on Saturday for
demanding an apology and compensation earlier in the day over Tokyo's arrest of
a Chinese fishing boat captain following maritime collisions in disputed
waters, saying such a demand clearly showed China's undemocratic nature.
''Everybody knows that China is not a democratic country, but (the latest
demand) will make that explicit,'' Okada, currently secretary general of the
ruling Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters in the city of Nara.
China made the demand after Japanese prosecutors released the captain of the
fishing boat early Saturday following more than two weeks of detention on
suspicion of deliberately colliding with a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat that
was pursuing his vessel early this month near the disputed Senkaku Islands in
the East China Sea.
Okada said he believes many Japanese are ''disappointed'' by China's hard-line
stance, adding it would not be ''a plus for China, either.''
Meanwhile, Koichiro Gemba, the DPJ's policy chief and also state minister for
national policy, said in a speech in the city of Sendai the same day that the
incident provided ''an opportunity for the Japanese to reaffirm the importance
of the Japan-U.S. security treaty and the need to protect isolated islands.''
==Kyodo
2010-09-25 21:19:56