Criticism Intensifies Over Spat With China

Kan Administration criticized over spat with China

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku says at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday that Japan will ask China to pay for the damage caused to Japan Coast Guard vessels by a Chinese trawler. (JUN UEDA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Opposition parties are sharpening their knives in preparation to attack the government in the extraordinary Diet session scheduled to begin Friday over the sudden release of a Chinese trawler captain.

None of the opposition parties is buying the government's explanation that prosecutors decided on their own Friday to release Zhan Qixiong, 41, whose fishing trawler rammed two Japan Coast Guard vessels near the disputed Senkaku Islands, leading to his arrest Sept. 8.

They will also tackle the Democratic Party of Japan-led government over its entire handling of the incident, which seriously strained relations with China, and will raise the question of whether Japan folded its cards too quickly.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Sunday reiterated that political interference was not a factor in the release of Zhan.

"The decision was made based on domestic law in an orderly fashion by the public prosecutors office," Kan told reporters.

But opposition parties have already jumped on the comments of Toru Suzuki, deputy public prosecutor at the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office. When Suzuki announced the release of the captain, he said the decision was made after "considering the effects on the people of Japan and the future of Japan-China relations."

Does that mean the government left an important political decision on national security and diplomacy entirely in the hands of prosecutors?

The opposition doesn't think so.

Kenji Eda, secretary-general of Your Party, said the case shows a "virtual exercise" by the government "of its right of command" over prosecutors.

"Prosecutors had clearly overstepped their authority if a decision was made to release the captain by going beyond the nature of the crime and extenuating circumstances and including the effect on Japan-China relations," he said.

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Nobuteru Ishihara said in a debate program Sunday broadcast by Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) that the party will seek sworn testimony in the Diet from the prosecutors to get to the truth.

"Prosecutors brought in a political factor to a job where decisions are made based on the law and evidence," he said.

At a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, a lawyer by trade, pointed to a legal concept under criminal procedure law that gives prosecutors the authority under certain circumstances to release an individual even if evidence clearly shows a crime has been committed.

Yet even some within the Kan administration have suggested the government exerted political pressure on the prosecutors.

"There was likely a high-level political decision," Yoshihiro Katayama, internal affairs and communications minister, said. "In a wide sense, prosecutors are also a part of the government."

During a speech in Tokyo on Sunday, LDP policy chief Shigeru Ishiba said the government was simply trying to pass off its tough decision on someone else.

"The prime minister and chief Cabinet secretary who should bear responsibility for political and diplomatic decisions have avoided that responsibility by saying, 'I know nothing about it because it was done by prosecutors,'" Ishiba said.

But the debate in the Diet will not be solely focused on the decision to release the captain. Critics say the entire process was bungled from the beginning, arguing that had Japan immediately sent Zhan back to China after his arrest, the row could have been better contained.

"During the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, individuals who landed on the Senkaku Islands were immediately deported. I believe a similar handling was possible in the latest case," LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki told reporters at LDP headquarters on Friday.

In March 2004, seven Chinese activists landed on the Senkaku Islands and were arrested by Okinawa prefectural police on suspicion of illegal entry into Japan. They were deported to China two days later.

At a news conference at that time, Koizumi admitted political considerations were involved in that decision, saying, "We gave instructions to the related agencies on the fundamental policy of making a decision on the issue by looking at the big picture and not negatively affecting Japan-China relations."

Katsuya Okada, secretary-general of the ruling DPJ, said, "The response by the Koizumi government led China to believe that 'Japan's position as a nation ruled by law is only for show.'"

Those within the prime minister's office were concerned that immediately deporting Zhan would have led to domestic criticism that the government was "weak-kneed."

An aide to Kan said such a decision "might have sent a message to China that even if a problem occurred near the Senkaku Islands, that would be the extent of Japan's response."

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara was in charge of the coast guard as minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism when the incident occurred. He personally told Kan, "It is better to stick with a resolute posture toward China."

Another factor is that the coast guard had video images of the Chinese trawler purposely ramming the coast guard vessels.

The consensus within the government was that there was no way to avoid investigating the captain within the process from his arrest to having papers on him sent to prosecutors.

Some opposition members suggest the government should have stuck to its guns and indicted Zhan.

"He was a virtual criminal since he violated Japanese territory. Domestic law should have been applied in an orderly manner," Your Party's Eda said on a Sunday program broadcast by Fuji Television Network Inc.

If the captain had admitted to the allegations against him, he might have gotten off without an indictment. However, since he continued to deny the suspicions, he would have at least been indicted under normal circumstances.

No one in Japan's diplomatic corps has argued for pressing charges against Zhan.

An even stronger Chinese response to an indictment could have triggered nationalistic sentiment in the two nations, shaking the foundation of bilateral relations to its very roots.

According to a Japanese diplomatic source, Chinese officials repeatedly told their Japanese counterparts: "While Japan says there is a separation of powers, the reality must be different. Why isn't a political decision made after thinking about the big picture in Japan-China ties?"

Whatever the picture, the opposition parties agree that the timing of Zhan's release could not have been worse.

At a speech in Tokyo on Sunday night, Yuriko Koike, chairwoman of the LDP's General Council, blasted the diplomacy under the DPJ government.

"A Japan that is looked down upon in such a manner was created because the DPJ has been unguarded in its political handling over the past year," she said.