The United States also stressed the need to avoid an escalation of the row as Japanese media reported Clinton told Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in New York that the islands are covered by the Japan-US security treaty.

Clinton spokesman Philip Crowley later confirmed the US stance.

"We do believe that, because the Senkaku islands are under Japanese jurisdiction, that it is covered by the US-Japan security treaty. That said, we also stressed that we don't take a position on the sovereignty of the Senkaku islands."

Under the 1960 treaty, the United States is obliged to defend Japan against any attack on a territory under Tokyo's administration.

China's premier Wen Jiabao has threatened "further actions" if Japan does not release the trawler captain, who was detained September 7 by the Japanese coast guard near the islands in the East China Sea between Taiwan and Japan's Okinawa island.

China has summoned Japan's ambassador five times, demanded the release of the boat's captain and scrapped talks on joint exploration of a gas field near the disputed islands known as the Dadirectlyioyu islands in China.

Meanwhile Friday in a moved ramping up the dispute, China held four Japanese nationals for entering a restricted military zone and "illegally filming defense targets", according to China's Xinhua news agency.

In meeting with Maehara, Clinton sought to "encourage dialogue and (voiced) hope that the issue can be resolved soon," Crowley said, adding that Japan-China ties "are vitally important to regional stability."

Maehara told the chief US diplomat that Tokyo is trying to resolve the row based on its legal process and international law, Crowley told reporters after the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

"We are not mediating per se. We have not been asked to play a particular role," he said, adding that this is an an issue two "mature countries" like China and Japan are "fully capable of resolving."

"Our sense is that neither side wants to see this situation escalate to the point that has long-term regional impact," Crowley said.

He added: "We continue to encourage both sides to do everything to resolve it and certainly not to escalate it."

US President Barack Obama met Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in New York, hours after holding talks with China's Premier Wen Jiabao, amid the heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

Obama said the US-Japan alliance was a "cornerstone" of global security, as his top White House policy aide Jeff Bader said Washington hoped the Japan-China dispute could be resolved peacefully.

"These two countries have a history with each other, there are nationalist sentiments in both countries that can be stirred up should the problem stagnate," Bader said.

"We do want to see calm and restraint on both sides, we do want to see them resolve it diplomatically soon."

When Obama met Wen, the president did not raise the East China Sea incident, though he did say Washington supported solving China's other territorial rows with Asian nations in the South China Sea through negotiations.

Maehara's press secretary Satoru Satoh told AFP late Wednesday that Japan wants to communicate with China but that no meetings are planned yet between Japanese and Chinese officials in New York.

earlier related report
Japan to free Chinese skipper at centre of row
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 24, 2010 - Japan said Friday it would free a Chinese fishing boat captain whose arrest in disputed waters over two weeks ago sparked the worst row in years between the Asian giants.

Prosecutors cited the deepening rift between Beijing and Tokyo in their decision to release the captain who was arrested after his boat collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels in the East China Sea.

"Considering the impact on Japan's people and the Japan-China relationship, we decided it would not be worth continuing detaining and investigating the captain," said Naha district deputy chief prosecutor Toru Suzuki.

The Chinese captain, Zhan Qixiong, 41, had acted on the spur of the moment and not committed a premeditated criminal act, and he had no prior criminal record in Japan, said Suzuki in a televised press conference.

Public broadcaster NHK, also citing prosecutors, reported that "the Chinese captain will be sent back to China", while adding it would take time because formalities had to be ironed out.

The top spokesman for Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was at the UN General Assembly in New York, said the decision was taken by prosecutors alone, and not because of political pressure.

But the conservative opposition was quick to lash out at what it saw as a loss of face for Japan, which has been overtaken by traditional rival China as the world's number two economy.

"It was an extremely foolish decision," said hawkish former prime minister Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party, Jiji Press reported.

"It was clear as day that it was an intrusion into (Japan's) territorial waters. Japanese politics caved in to pressure from China."

The row started when Japan's coastguard arrested the captain on September 8 after his trawler collided with two of their patrol boats near a disputed island chain, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China.

The collisions caused no injuries, but the diplomatic damage was severe.

In the ensuing row, China issued a series of harsh diplomatic protests, summoned Japan's ambassador Uichiro Niwa six times, once after midnight, and cancelled official visits and joint cultural events.

Japan on September 13 released the ship's 14 Chinese crew and allowed them to fly home on a Chinese government-chartered plane, but Beijing the same day protested that the skipper was still being held.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this week threatened "further actions" and warned on Thursday: "China will never give in or compromise on matters including national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity."

Even after Japan said it was releasing the captain, Beijing's foreign ministry again called Tokyo's decision to detain him "illegal and invalid".

Amid the row China has also blocked exports of rare earth metals, used in products from iPods to electric cars, to Japan, according to traders, a claim Beijing has denied.

As the dispute has escalated, the United States repeatedly urged both nations to resolve the dispute through dialogue.

Further ramping up tensions, China this week detained four Japanese nationals who were working on a bid for a project to clear up chemical weapons left from the Japanese occupation before and during World War II.

Japan has pressed for diplomatic access to its four, who were detained in northern Hebei province for entering a restricted military zone and "illegally filming defence targets", according to China's Xinhua news agency.

Their employer, construction company Fujita, said they had been visiting the city of Shijiazhuang but could not be reached since one of their staff had text-messaged the single word "help" on Tuesday.

Memories of the two nations' troubled past has fuelled the row.

Last weekend, on the anniversary of Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria, small groups of anti-Japanese demonstrators rallied in three Chinese cities, although the protests were brief and peaceful.

In Washington's highest-level expression of concern, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara on the UN sidelines in New York that Washington wanted a negotiated settlement.

Clinton sought to "encourage dialogue and (voiced) hope that the issue can be resolved soon", her spokesman Philip Crowley said, adding Japan-China ties "are vitally important to regional stability".

burs/fz/jah

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News