Japan Saturday released a Chinese trawler captain at the center of a fierce row with China that has threatened ties between Asia's two biggest economies, Kyodo news agency reported.
The captain, Zhan Qixiong, flew out of Ishigaki airport in southern Japan aboard a chartered plane shortly afterwards for home, Kyodo said.
A prosecutor from Naha city on Japan's southern Okinawa island said Friday that the decision to release the Chinese
captain, whose trawler collided this month with two Japanese patrol boats in waters near islands both sides claim, took into account the importance of Sino-Japanese ties.
The release follows the detention of four Japanese nationals on suspicion of violating Chinese law regarding the protection of military facilities, though Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has denied a link between the two matters
A prosecutor from Naha city on Japan's southern Okinawa island said Friday that the decision to release the Chinese
captain, whose trawler collided this month with two Japanese patrol boats in waters near islands both sides claim, took into account the importance of Sino-Japanese ties.
The release follows the detention of four Japanese nationals on suspicion of violating Chinese law regarding the protection of military facilities, though Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku has denied a link between the two matters
The dispute over the Chinese trawler has its roots in a long-standing disagreement over sovereignty in an area with potentially rich resources, and has also underscored the fragility of ties long plagued by disputes over wartime history and regional rivalry.
Both countries claim sovereignty over the uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu in China and the Senkaku in Japan. They are also at odds over China's exploration for natural gas in the East China Sea.
Beijing is involved in territorial rows with southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea.
Kyodo quoted a Japanese national resources and energy agency official late Friday as saying it was highly possible that China had started drilling in a gas field in the disputed waters of the East China Sea. But the report also cited a foreign ministry official as saying there was no confirmation.
The United States welcomed Japan's decision to release the Chinese captain, saying it had defused a potentially dangerous situation.
"This was a Japanese decision to make and we're just hopeful that with the release of the ship captain, tensions will recede and the countries in the region will get back to normal business," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
There had been concern that a prolonged dispute could hurt ties between the world's second and third largest economies, now in the process of swapping places as China overtakes Japan in the No.2 spot.
Japan's sluggish economy has become increasingly reliant on China's dynamism for growth. China became Japan's biggest trading partner last year and bilateral trade reached 12.6 trillion yen ($148 billion) in the January-June period, a jump of 34.5 percent over the same time last year, Japanese data shows.
Before the captain's release, China canceled diplomatic meetings and student visits.
There has also been concern that Beijing was holding back shipments of rare earth minerals vital for electronics and auto parts to put added pressure on Japan
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