Japan warned on Tuesday that a deepening row over its detention of a Chinese fishing-boat captain should not be allowed to fuel “extreme nationalism” on either side.
The remarks follow Beijing’s abrupt suspension of high-level contacts in protest at Japan’s decision to extend its detention of trawler captain Zhan Qixiong. Qixiong’s ship collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels a fortnight ago near the Senkakus, a group of uninhabited islands claimed by both countries.
“What is most important is that government officials in Japan, China and other countries try not to fuel narrow-minded, extreme nationalism,” Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshito Sengoku, told reporters. “For the peace and development of East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, we want to use all available means of communication to ask that this be resolved without the situation escalating.”
Sengoku said there were no plans for Prime Minister Naoto Kan to discuss the crisis with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York later this week. The United States has voiced concern at the prospect of a prolonged estrangement between China and Japan, which are engaged in long-standing disputes over the islands as well as drilling rights in oil and gas fields in the East China Sea.
Japan’s refusal to release Zhan has fuelled anti-Japanese sentiment among Chinese internet users and led to cultural exchanges being called off . Chinese travel agencies have cancelled package tours to Japan, affecting thousands of tourists, and a youth association withdrew an invitation to 1 000 Japanese youngsters to attend the World Expo in Shanghai.
Japanese band Smap, which has a huge following in mainland Asia, has postponed two concerts in China after a local ticket agency suspended ticket sales over the weekend, according to the Sports Nippon tabloid. The boy band was scheduled to play in front of 80 000 fans at the expo next month.
Tokyo’s centre-left administration has repeatedly called for calm on both sides, having made closer ties with China a key part of its foreign policy since taking office a year ago. Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Japan would respond in a “level-headed manner” to avoid any impact on the countries’ economic ties.
China became Japan’s biggest trading partner last year, with bilateral trade reaching ¥12.6-trillion in the first half of this year, up more than 34% compared with the same period last year. Analysts said it was in both countries’ interests to defuse the crisis, given the strength of their economic ties and shared concerns about North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
“They have every reason to improve bilateral relations and cooperate further in economic and other relations, especially when China’s economic growth is fast and Japan’s is slow or even contracting,” said Victor Gao, the director of the China National Association for International Studies in Beijing. Nationalist messages flooded Internet forums.
On one popular portal, Netease, a user from Ningxia in northwest China wrote: “Our national humiliation can never be forgotten. As an ordinary person, all I can do is be angry and boycott Japanese goods; if there is a war, as a reserve officer, I will not hesitate!” Others attacked the Chinese government for not taking a stronger line. Other protests in China have been low-key.
A strong police presence ensured that demonstrations in Beijing on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the start of Japan’s occupation in 1931 passed off peacefully. China’s decision to suspend contacts at ministerial level and above came after a Japanese court approved a request by prosecutors to hold Zhan until September 28, when they must either indict or release him.
Gao suggested that Tokyo could offer to release the captain, whose mother died following his arrest, on humanitarian grounds, and because tomorrow’s mid-autumn festival is traditionally a time for family reunions in China. “It could be an expedient way to wind this down without causing anyone to lose face,” he said. —