China's top-ranked diplomat, Dai Bingguo, intensified pressure on Japan on Sunday over a sea dispute between the two biggest Asian economies. The dispute is about a Chinese fishing boat that on Tuesday collided with two Japanese coast guard ships near islets in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.
The fishing boat was intercepted by the Japanese authorities, who have accused the captain, Zhan Qixiong, of deliberately striking a patrol ship and obstructing public officers. A Japanese court on Friday authorized a 10-day extension in detaining Zhan.
Because both countries claim the seas around the islets -- called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China -- as part of their territory, the case has become embroiled in their broader dispute over this area, which has plentiful fish and may hold potentially valuable oil and gas reserves.
But both governments are likely to try to calibrate their steps to avoid turning this quarrel into an overall rift. Both countries now have even more at stake in containing tensions. Japan and China together account for about 17 percent of the world's total GDP and China has been Japan's biggest trading partner since 2009.
A group of Chinese protesters prepared on Sunday to head to near the disputed islands by boat and they could become another focus of contention.
Even after this case is settled, both governments face a tricky task in navigating these longer-term shifts. Incidents like the boat dispute are likely to continue testing their ties.
But tensions are also likely to be held in check by deeper economic inter-dependence.
Japan's exports to China topped those to the United States last year, accounting for nearly 20 percent of its exports. That figure will probably rise to 35 percent by 2026, according to Chi Hung Kwan at Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research. (Source: Chris Buckley; Editing by Ron Popeski, Reuters, Sep 12, 2010).