It is the fourth time Beijing has called the envoy in during the spat, which began on Tuesday when a Chinese trawler and two Japanese coast guard vessels collided near an island chain in the East China Sea claimed by both sides.

Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo urged Japan, through ambassador Uichiro Niwa, to make a "wise political resolution" and release the trawler and its crew, the Xinhua state news agency said.

"Dai expressed solemnly (to the Japanese ambassador) the Chinese government's grave concerns and its serious and just position," China's foreign ministry said in a statement quoted by the agency.

Xinhua described Dai as the highest-ranking Chinese official to make a response on the affair.

The move came after China engaged two Japanese survey vessels at sea on Saturday and called off planned talks with Tokyo over the East China Sea in protest at Japan's handling of the row.

The neighbours had been scheduled to hold discussions later this month on issues relating to the East China Sea.

But Beijing, which has warned Tokyo of a "serious impact" on ties if the trawler and its crew are not released, pushed back the meeting late on Friday.

Accusing Japan of acting "recklessly", it voiced its "strong discontent and grave protest".

"The Japanese side has ignored China's repeated solemn representations and firm opposition, and obstinately decided to put the Chinese captain under the so-called judiciary procedures," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Friday.

"Japan's acts have violated the law of nations and basic international common sense, and are ridiculous, illegal and invalid," she added.

"Japan will reap as it has sown, if it continues to act recklessly."

Tokyo suspects the trawler captain deliberately rammed the two Japanese vessels in a confrontation near the disputed island chain which began on Tuesday morning, and ended after four Japanese patrol boats pursued the Chinese trawler.

The uninhabited islands -- known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China -- lie between Japan's Okinawa island and Taiwan. They are claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei and are frequently the focus of regional tensions.

On Friday China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi summoned Niwa and stressed Beijing's determination to "safeguard the sovereignty of the Diaoyu islands", his ministry said.

Territorial disputes in the East China Sea have repeatedly led to strains in Sino-Japanese ties. There are four controversial Chinese gas fields in the sea that Japan says extend into its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The postponed talks were intended to follow on from discussions held in Tokyo in July on plans by Asia's top two economies to jointly exploit oil and gas fields in the disputed seas.

Jiang said Thursday that a Chinese "law enforcement" ship had been sent to the area to "protect the safety" of the fishermen working there.

On Saturday, the Japanese coast guard said that ship approached two of its survey vessels and ordered them to cease operations, in an area of the East China Sea which it says falls within its EEZ.

The coast guard said Japan had lodged a complaint through diplomatic channels about the incident, adding that its ships had been able to carry on their work.

The fishing boat's captain, 41-year-old Zhan Qixiong, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of obstructing officers on duty -- a charge that carries a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment. The crew is also in custody.

A Japanese court on Friday extended Zhan's detention for up to 10 more days, until September 20. One more 10-day extension can be granted under Japanese law.

Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Friday urged China to handle the issue "calmly and carefully", saying: "We are just acting in accordance with the law."

earlier related report
China warns Japan over boat seizure
Beijing (UPI) Sep 10, 2010 - China is demanding the unconditional release of the captain and crew of a Chinese fishing boat seized by Japan after a collision with Japanese ships.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi summoned the Japanese ambassador in Beijing, Uichiro Niwa, and lodged a formal protest over the incident that happened in waters off the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea earlier this week.

Minor damages to the ships, but no injuries, were reported after the two Japanese patrol boats collided with the Chinese trawler.

But the incident sparked off a flurry of diplomatic activity and raised tensions between the two countries, both of which claim the 2.7 square miles of uninhabited islands.

Soon after this week's Chinese boat incident, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Song Tao summoned Niwa and urged Japan to stop what they said was the illegal interception of Chinese fishing boats. The venture was described as "absurd, illegal and invalid."

The Chinese government said in a written statement it remains determined "to safeguard the sovereignty of the Diaoyu islands."

Yang told Niwa Japan must "immediately and unconditionally" release the boat and crew.

The Japanese reportedly are deciding whether to charge the captain, held at a police station on the nearby Japanese island of Okinawa, with deliberately ramming their patrol vessels.

The non-volcanic Diaoyu Islands -- known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan -- are claimed by both China and Japan, but are controlled by Japan.

Disputes over who owns the five islands and three rocky outcrops predate the second world war. At the end of the war in 1945 they were under U.S. jurisdiction as part of the captured island of Okinawa. But they have been under Japanese jurisdiction since 1972 when Okinawa was returned to Japan.

The islands are 106 miles north of Japan's Ishigaki Island and 116 miles northeast of Keelung city on northern Taiwan. They lie 255 miles west of Okinawa Island, but Japan argues they are part of the Japanese Ryukyu Islands group.

Fishing boats from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan from time to time enter what Japan considers its territorial waters around the islands.

Most often the boats leave when approached by Japanese patrol boats, but in the current case it appears the ships suffered a minor accident.

Taiwan also claims sovereignty over the islands, previously called the Pinnacle Group in English. A similar diplomatic storm blew up between Taiwan and Japan in 2008 when a Taiwanese trawler sank near the islands after colliding with a Japanese patrol ship.

In late August Taiwan reiterated its claim to the islands. "The Diaoyu islands are our territory and we reiterate our sovereignty claim to the islets," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Diplomatic rows over the islands can be a sensitive issue for the United States because it supports both Taiwan and Japan.

Last month the Japanese Foreign Ministry stressed that the islands are subject to the Japan-U.S. security treaty, and the government was unaware of any shift by the U.S. administration policy.

"We have not been notified by the United States that it has changed its stance," Japan's foreign press secretary Kazuo Kodama said at a news conference.

"There is no change in the position even after the administration of President Obama took over." If the islands come under attack by other countries, "it is natural that Japan and the United States respond together," Kodama said.

Tokyo and Washington are planning a joint military exercise in the area in December.

Japan will "recapture" an unnamed remote southwestern island from an enemy, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, although no sources for the report were given.

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