Chinese patrol boats depart disputed waters: Japan

(AFP) – 1 hour ago

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TOKYO — Japan on Wednesday said two Chinese fisheries patrol boats withdrew from waters near a disputed island chain that is at the centre of the worst diplomatic row in years between the Asian giants.

"The coastguard was using radar to monitor the two vessels," a coastguard spokeswoman said. "They moved away around dawn (on Wednesday) and left the area," she said.

Beijing had sent the boats on September 23 to protect Chinese fishing vessels operating near the disputed islands in the East China Sea known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The move followed Tokyo's arrest on September 8 of a Chinese trawler captain whose ship collided with two Japanese patrol vessels near the disputed island chain, leading Beijing to cut off all high-level contacts until Monday.

But a brief meeting between Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit in Brussels Monday broke the ice after the almost month-long territorial row.

An official said that after each stating their position on ownership of the islands -- with each claiming sovereignty -- the pair "shared the view that the actual situation in the Japanese-Sino relationship is not desirable."  Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

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