Japan to prosecute Chinese captain over collision near Diaoyu Islands

The Japanese government will file a damage suit against the Chinese captain of a fishing boat which collided with Japanese patrol ships in waters off Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea in 2010, local media reported Wednesday.

The government prepares to submit the case to a local district court of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, which the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha demands for 14.29 million yen (about 139.3 thousands US dollars) to compensate for repair costs, Japan's Kyodo News citing Transport Minister Akihiro Ota as saying.

According to Ota, Japan would officially publish the video of the collision along with the lawsuit.

On Sept. 7, 2010, two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships and a Chinese trawler collided in waters off China's Diaoyu Island. On the following day, the Japan Coast Guard illegally seized Zhan Qixiong, then 41-year-old captain, drawing strong protests from the Chinese government and people.

The Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese territory since the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Maps printed in Japan in 1783 and 1785 that marked out the boundary of the Ryukyu Kingdom show that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China.