TOKYO: China has again sent fisheries patrol ships to waters near an island chain disputed between Tokyo and Beijing after earlier withdrawing vessels, Japanese media reports said Wednesday.
The Japan-administered islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are at the centre of the worst spat in years between Asia's biggest powers after Japan arrested a Chinese skipper nearby six weeks ago.
Beijing dispatched a vessel last week, on October 14, with the aim of "protecting the legal rights of Chinese fishermen" near the East China Sea islands, Japan's Jiji Press reported, citing Chinese fisheries officials.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily said three boats were sent by China on that day.
The row started when Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain near the islands on September 8 whose ship had collided with two of its coastguard vessels.
China reacted with a barrage of diplomatic protests and snubs and other punitive steps and first dispatched two patrol boats on September 23. It withdrew the boats from the area after Japan released the captain.
However, tensions have continued to simmer since then, with nationalist street rallies held in both countries, including three days of protests in Chinese inland cities in which Japanese businesses were vandalised.
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan held a brief meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Brussels early this month, and officials in Tokyo say both countries are seeking to arrange a formal summit later in October. - AFP/fa
The Japan-administered islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are at the centre of the worst spat in years between Asia's biggest powers after Japan arrested a Chinese skipper nearby six weeks ago.
Beijing dispatched a vessel last week, on October 14, with the aim of "protecting the legal rights of Chinese fishermen" near the East China Sea islands, Japan's Jiji Press reported, citing Chinese fisheries officials.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily said three boats were sent by China on that day.
The row started when Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain near the islands on September 8 whose ship had collided with two of its coastguard vessels.
China reacted with a barrage of diplomatic protests and snubs and other punitive steps and first dispatched two patrol boats on September 23. It withdrew the boats from the area after Japan released the captain.
However, tensions have continued to simmer since then, with nationalist street rallies held in both countries, including three days of protests in Chinese inland cities in which Japanese businesses were vandalised.
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan held a brief meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Brussels early this month, and officials in Tokyo say both countries are seeking to arrange a formal summit later in October. - AFP/fa