China urges Japan to resolve row

Beijing has called on Tokyo to meet it “halfway” in efforts to resolve their weeks-long feud, which sparked a heated diplomatic row between the two neighbors.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the comment after Tokyo insisted on its ownership of a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea.

“China highly values China-Japan relations. But safeguarding bilateral relations requires the two sides to meet halfway and requires Japan to take candid and practical actions,” Jiang told reporters.

“Japan should take concrete steps to eliminate the negative impact of this incident on bilateral relations.”

The remarks came after Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said there are no territorial issues. He also defended the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain that sparked the dispute.

The detention took place three weeks ago after a Chinese trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard boats in the East China Sea.

The skipper was released last week.

China, however, is still holding four Japanese nationals who were arrested on suspicion of entering a military zone in Hebei.