Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) threatened action against Japan if Tokyo does not immediately release a detained Chinese ship captain.
Wen’s remarks on Tuesday night in New York were the first by a top Chinese leader on the issue that has led Beijing to suspend ministerial-level contacts with Tokyo. China has also said Wen would not meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan during UN meetings in New York this week.
In comments carried on the Web site of China’s Foreign Ministry, Wen laid the blame for the dispute entirely at Japan’s door.
Tokyo “bears full responsibility for the situation, and it will bear all consequences,” he said to a gathering of overseas Chinese.
China-Japan relations are at their worst in half a decade after Japan arrested the Chinese captain of a fishing boat that collided two weeks ago with Japanese coast guard vessels near islands in the East China Sea claimed by both nations.
The dispute over the islands, known as Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyutais in Chinese, comes as an increasingly confident China asserts its presence in the region.
A Japanese government spokesman made a conciliatory gesture yesterday morning, but it was not clear if he was aware of Wen’s comments at the time.
“If possible, it would be good to quickly hold high-level talks, including broad, strategic discussions,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said.
The telephone at China’s Foreign Ministry rang unanswered yesterday, a national holiday in China.
On Tuesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) explained that Wen would not meet Kan in New York because “the atmosphere is obviously not suitable for such a meeting.”
Seven activists from Hong Kong set sail for the islands yesterday in a fishing vessel. They were followed by a marine police boat but weren’t stopped.
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