【10.09.20 卫报】Japan not told of Chinese decision to cut ties

青蛙小王子

Chinese protesters chant anti-Japanese slogans during a rally in Hong Kong following the extended detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters

Japan claimed today that it had not been officially told of China's decision to break off high-level exchanges amid a deepening row over the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain.

Zhan Qixiong was arrested on 8 September after his boat and a Japanese coastguard vessel collided in waters near a group of uninhabited islets administered by Japan but claimed by China.

On Sunday a court in Japan extended his detention on the southern island of Okinawa to 29 September, prompting China to announce that it was halting ministerial and provincial-level contacts.

A spokesman in Japan, which is today observing a national holiday, claimed Tokyo had not been informed of the decision to cut off ties.

"If China did make such a decision, then it is truly regrettable," Noriyuki Shikata, a spokesman for the prime minister, Naoto Kan, told Associated Press.

"We call for calm and prudent action by China in order not to further escalate the situation," Shikata said, adding that the investigation into the collision was legally, not politically, motivated.

The row over the maritime collision is unfolding against a backdrop of rising tension over China's military spending, simmering historical resentments and competing claims to territories and possible energy sources.

Despite hopes that relations would improve under Japan's centre-left government, which took office a year ago, they have quickly sunk to their lowest level since 2005, when riots erupted in protest at visits to a controversial war shrine by the then Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi. The two countries halted ministerial-level defence talks for three years from 2003.

Although Japan has released the ship and its 14 other crew, the prospects of an early end to the row dimmed amid reports that China was preparing to start drilling in natural gas fields in another disputed area of the East China Sea, despite a 2008 agreement to conduct joint explorations.

Media reports said Kan was considering countermeasures, including the start of unilateral test drilling by Japan.

Earlier, Japanese officials said China had moved drilling equipment to the area, having scrapped scheduled talks over joint exploration in the wake of the trawler incident. Although known reserves appear to be relatively modest, it is thought that there may be more to be found.

China's state broadcaster CCTV said yesterday that Beijing had suspended contacts, including talks on increasing flights, and postponed a meeting on coal. The decision came after a day of protests across China to mark the start of Japan's invasion of China in 1931.

The row began more than a week ago, when a trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard ships near the Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyu in China.

However, after several years of improving relations and increasing trade, China and Japan have much to lose from a prolonged deterioration in ties, and will be wary of letting the spat get out of hand.

Dr Shogo Suzuki, a specialist in Sino-Japanese relations at the University of Manchester, said neither side wanted the situation to get out of control.

"If China frightens Japan too much, it will just draw it closer to America, which is certainly not something China would like."

He suggested that both sides had learned from the dispute in 2005, pointing to Beijing's determination to avoid large protests this weekend and suggesting it was aware it did not face "a Koizumi type, using nationalism for domestic purposes" in Tokyo.

But Suzuki added: "The question is how they can get out of this game of chicken."

He suggested that if the captain were released with a fine or reprimand it might allow both countries to save face.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/20/japan-china

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