China rejects Japan demand to Chinese trawler captain
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China's Foreign Ministry Saturday rejected a demand that a Chinese trawler captain pay for repairs to two Japanese Coast Guard vessels involved in a collision in waters off the Diaoyu Islands last year.
The Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets were an integral part of Chinese territory from ancient times and Japan had "no right" to request compensation, said ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.
The Japanese authorities should "reflect" on their actions during the incident in September last year, said Ma.
The Japanese Coast Guard has sent a bill for 170,000 U.S. dollars to trawler captain Zhan Qixiong whose vessel was involved in the collision.
The bill claimed reimbursement for repairs to "two Coast Guard patrol vessels and for other costs, including official worktime spent on the repairs," according to media reports.
After the collision involving the two Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessels and the Chinese fishing boat, Japan seized the Chinese boat and its crew and only returned the crew and trawler after repeated Chinese representations.
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