Boat captain could stand trial for collision

Officials also were questioning the ship’s remaining 14 crew members, who are free to return to China, if the Chinese send a vessel to pick them up, the coast guard said.

The Chinese government has reiterated its claim to the Diaoyu, as well as its adjacent islets and their waters, urging Japan not to patrol there.

But Japanese Foreign Press Secretary Satoru Sato told reporters Wednesday that Japan’s territorial ownership of the Senkaku is “the undeniable fact” and that the collision case should be investigated properly under Japan’s criminal law.

In Beijing, there was a small, organized protest Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy. About 30 people gathered to shout slogans and wave flags. Such events usually happen only with the approval of local police or officials.

Territorial disputes have been a disruptive undercurrent in Japan-China relations. As the robust Chinese economy’s demand for resources grows, China’s commercial ships are venturing farther from shore and its more powerful navy is enforcing claims in disputed waters.

Last month, a Chinese survey ship allegedly entered Japan’s disputed exclusive economic zone without prior notification, breaking a previous agreement between the two countries. In April, a Chinese helicopter came within 300 feet (90 meters) of a Japanese military monitoring vessel in the vicinity of a Chinese naval exercise.

The latest incident occurred during a seasonal surge of Chinese fishing boats in the disputed area in recent weeks.

Since mid-August, the coast guard spotted as many as 270 Chinese fishing boats near the disputed islands per day, with 70 of them entering Japanese waters, Ichijo said, adding that it’s generally a seasonal trend due to increase of fish in the area.

The collisions occurred after the Chinese ship refused to stop for an inspection by the patrol vessels after repeatedly ignoring their earlier warnings to leave the area, the coast guard said.