China

Seized trawler returns

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-16 07:45

BEIJING - A Chinese fishing boat released by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) returned home on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The fishing boat arrived at the Shenhu fishing port in Jinjiang of Quanzhou city in East China's Fujian province at 8:30 am on Wednesday.

The trawler, with 15 of its crew on board, was illegally detained by the Japanese after it collided with two JCG patrol vessels in the waters near the Diaoyu Islands on Sept 7.

The trawler and 14 of its crew were freed and left Ishigaki harbor in Okinawa on Monday after China protested to Japan.

The trawler sailed back under the escort of two Chinese fishery administration ships.

The 14 Chinese fishermen returned to Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian, on Monday afternoon on a chartered flight organized by the Chinese government.

The captain of the trawler, Zhan Qixiong, is still being held in custody by the Japanese.

On Wednesday, Zhan's family held a funeral in Jinjiang for his 85-year-old grandmother, who died within hours of his arrest on Sept 8.

China had summoned Japan's ambassador for a fifth time to demand that Tokyo release the captain of the fishing boat.

Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin called in Ambassador Uichiro Niwa on Tuesday to lodge a further complaint over Japan's continued "illegal detention" of the skipper, said a statement posted on the ministry's website on Tuesday night.

China Daily - Xinhua