Chinese crew seized by Japan flying home

ISHIGAKI, Japan - The 14 Chinese fishermen, on board the trawler which had been kept off Ishigaki harbor in Okinawa since last Tuesday's collision with Japan Coast Guards ships, set off for home Monday morning, according to Xinhua reporters on the scene.

Chinese boat crew members get off the ship at the Ishigaki harbor to go to Ishigaki airport in Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 13, 2010. The 14 Chinese fishermen on board the trawler which had been kept by Japanese authorities at Ishigaki harbor in Okinawa since Tuesday's collision are on their way back to China. [Photo/Xinhua]

The chartered flight of Tianjin Airlines took off from Ishigaki Airport at 11:40 a.m., and will arrive at the airport of Fuzhou, capital of southeastern Fujian Province, the sources with Chinese embassy to Japan confirmed.

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The crew members appeared healthy, and were escorted to two minivans after getting off from the boat. They were not granted a chance to talk to Xinhua and other reporters on the spot.

Chinese embassy officials were present at the airport apron to see the crew members off.

The trawler itself also set off on a journey for Fuzhou shortly after the plane took off, steered by a skipper arriving from China.

The original captain of the trawler, Zhan Qixiong, 41, has still been held by Japanese authorities for allegedly "obstructing public duties." A Japanese court ruled on Friday to detain him for 10 days until September 19.

The collision between the Chinese trawler and two Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessels off the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea last Tuesday has developed into a diplomatic crisis between China and Japan. China has repeatedly demanded the release of the captain and its crew.

On Sunday morning, Japan Coast Guards towed the Chinese trawler into the sea near Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture to reenact the vessel's collision.

China is firmly opposed to any kind of investigation by Japanese authorities of the illegally-detained Chinese fishing trawler, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Sunday.

In a written statement, Jiang said Japan's so-called evidence- taking activities are illegal, invalid and conducted in vain, and China demands Japan stop activities that will lead to an escalation of the situation.

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo on Sunday told Japan to make a "wise political resolution" and immediately release the Chinese fishermen and fishing boat.

Dai, who made the remarks when summoning Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa in the wee hours, was the highest-ranking Chinese official to make a response after the fishing boat and its crew were seized Tuesday.

"Dai expressed solemnly (to the Japanese ambassador) the Chinese government's grave concerns and its serious and just position," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Niwa said he would promptly report the Chinese position to his government, said the statement.

China decided Friday night to postpone a negotiation with Japan on the East China Sea issue scheduled for mid September, after the Japanese court ruled a 10-day detention through September 19 against the captain despite protests from China.

Previously, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday summoned the Japanese ambassador and demanded Japan immediately and unconditionally release the boat and all the crew, saying China's determination to defend its sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and the interests of the Chinese people was unswerving.

Protests of the public also emerged recently in China against the Japanese move.

On Wednesday, more than 40 Chinese nationals staged a protest near the Japanese embassy in Beijing over the detention of the Chinese fishing boat.

The Diaoyu Islands are 120 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, 200 nautical miles west of China's mainland and 200 nautical miles east of Japan's southernmost island Okinawa.

The islands appeared on China's map since the Ming Dynasty ( 1368-1644). On a map published by Japan between 1783 and 1785, marking the boundary of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Diaoyu Islands were shown as belonging to China.

Japan never questioned China's sovereignty over the islands before the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895.

Geographically the islands are attached to Taiwan. The waters around the islands are 100 to 150 meters deep and there is a 2,000- meter-deep oceanic trench between the islands and Japan's Okinawa islands.

Fishermen from China's Taiwan and Fujian and other provinces conducted activities such as fishing and collecting herbs in this area since the ancient times.