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FISHING tensions between China and Japan have flared up again.
China yesterday demanded that Japan should immediately withdraw its fishing boats from the waters around the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
According to reports in the Japanese media, around 10 trawlers belonging to a fishing co-operative left its local port on Sunday to operate in the waters of the uninhabited Diaoyo Islands which are called Senkaku by the Japanese.
This led to an immediate protest by China and the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We have lodged solemn representation with the Japanese side."
He added: "China has indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands that have been an inherent part of China since ancient times." He stressed that any actions taken by Japan in the area were invalid. This is not the first confrontation between the two countries over fishing. Last year the Japanese arrested a Chinese trawler and detained its skipper for alleged illegal fishing which led to a diplomatic stand off between the two countries.
The latest incident happened as Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto was in China to try to calm relations between the two sides on fishing and territorial issues.
Last week Vietnam accused China of bullying some of its trawlers into selling fish to that country. China has also been buying up fish in Vietnam, leading to local shortages and higher prices. In both cases it is widely believed that undersea mineral resources, and oil in particular, are behind China's territorial claims, with fishing rights being the pretext.
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