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BEIJING: China on Friday again summoned Japan's ambassador to protest the seizure of a Chinese trawler that collided with two Japanese coast guard vessels, as a row showed no signs of abating.
The incident in the East China Sea, which occurred near an island chain claimed by both nations, has soured ties between the Asian giants, with Beijing warning of a "serious impact" on relations if the situation is not resolved.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Japan's envoy to Beijing, Uichiro Niwa, to reiterate Beijing's demand that the captain and crew of the fishing boat be released "unconditionally", the ministry said in a statement.
Yang "emphasised that the Chinese government's determination to safeguard the sovereignty of the Diaoyu islands and the nation's people is firm and steadfast," his ministry said.
Niwa has now been summoned three times by the Chinese government.
On Thursday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu called the Japanese handling of the incident "absurd, illegal and invalid," adding: "China will never accept it."
She also said a Chinese "law enforcement" ship had been sent to the area to "protect the safety" of the fishermen working there.
The boat's captain, 41-year-old Zhan Qixiong, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of obstructing officers on duty -- a charge that carries a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment. The crew is in detention.
Tokyo suspects the captain deliberately rammed the two Japanese vessels in a confrontation near the disputed island chain which began on Tuesday morning, and ended after four Japanese patrol boats pursued the Chinese trawler.
The uninhabited islands -- known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China -- lie between Japan's Okinawa island and Taiwan. They are claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei and are frequently the focus of regional tensions.
-AFP/wk
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