China opposes Japan's handling of Chinese fishing boat
BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday said it opposed the way Japan was handling the Chinese fishing boat incident.
"China will never accept the Japanese side's applying domestic law to the Chinese fishing boat operating in that area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told the regular briefing.
Jiang said Japan's handling was "absurd, illegal and invalid."
Jiang's comments came after Japanese coastal patrol handed the captain of the Chinese fishing boat it detained to local prosecutors earlier Thursday.
Two Japanese patrol boats collided with a Chinese fishing boat in waters off the Diaoyu Islands Tuesday. No injuries were reported from the collision, but then the fishing boat was intercepted by Japanese patrol boats.
"We hope that the Japanese side thoroughly considers the seriousness and graveness of this incident, and release the crew and vessel immediately so as to avoid further deterioration of the situation and escalation (of tensions)," Jiang said
Jiang urged the Japanese side to "keep a sober mind" on the highly sensitive issue of the territorial dispute.
"If not handled properly, (the issue) will seriously undermine the general situation of China-Japan relations," Jiang said.