China summons Japanese ambassador again over boat

BEIJING – China's top foreign policy official increased pressure on Japan on Sunday by summoning its ambassador to again demand the immediate release of Chinese fishermen and their boat detained near disputed islands.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo called in Ambassador Uichiro Niwa early Sunday, China's Foreign Ministry said. It was the fourth time that Niwa has been summoned over the incident, and it was highly unusual for an official of Dai's rank to intercede.

The fishing boat collided with Japanese patrol vessels last week after ignoring warnings to leave the area and refusing to stop for an inspection, Japan's coast guard said.

China has said the confrontation could damage its relations with Japan, underlining the sensitivity of the territorial dispute in the East China Sea, one of several that trouble China's ties with its Asian neighbors.

Beijing is worried about losing face in front of the Chinese public and triggering a nationalistic backlash against the government if it appears unable to protect the country's sovereignty. The spat has stirred passions in China, with newspapers and activists calling for a tough stand against any threats to China's territorial claims.

Tuesday's incident happened off Japan's Kuba island, just north of the disputed islands, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of Taiwan. The islands are controlled by Japan but are also claimed by China and Taiwan.

Dai urged Japan to find a "wise political resolution" and release the crew and boat immediately, the ministry said in a statement. Niwa replied that he would report China's position to Tokyo, it said.

Also Sunday, Japanese coast guard officials took the fishing boat and its crew out to sea off the southern island of Okinawa to test the boat's capabilities. A Japanese ship closely trailed the fishing boat as it maneuvered in the ocean with coast guard members on board.

Officials also found fish on the boat and were investigating whether they were caught illegally in waters that Japan considers its territory, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

China's Foreign Ministry said it firmly opposed any form of investigation by Japanese authorities into the fishing boat.

"Japan's so-called gathering of evidence is illegal, invalid and futile," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement. "China urges Japan to stop actions that escalate the situation and immediately and unconditionally release the crew and ship, this is the only way to solve the problem."

A group of about 20 Chinese activists, meanwhile, planned to sail Sunday from the eastern coastal city of Xiamen to waters near the disputed islands — known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

They plan to unfurl banners proclaiming Chinese sovereignty over the territory and protest "Japanese aggression," said organizer Li Yiqiang. If the trip goes as planned, they are expected to arrive Tuesday, he said by phone.

China announced on Friday that it was postponing talks scheduled earlier with Japan on the East China Seaissue in a sign of its anger. The talks would have been the second governmental meeting over the territorial disputes in that area.

A Japanese court has allowed prosecutors to keep the boat captain in custody until Sept. 19 before deciding whether to press charges. Japanese authorities say the other 14 crew members have remained on the fishing boat and cannot land in Japan because they do not have passports but are free to return home if China sends a vessel to pick them up.

Iranian prosecutor ready to release American woman

A senior Iranian prosecutor said Sunday that authorities will release a jailed American woman on $500,000 bail because of health problems, another sudden about-face by Iran in a case that has added to tension with the United States.

The news came during a weekend of start-and-stop announcements about the release of Sarah Shourd, who was detained with two friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, along the Iran-Iraq border on July 31, 2009, and accused of spying.

There were no details on when she would be released. Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said the conditions of her bail did not bar her from leaving the country, though her case will still go to trial along with those of the other two Americans, who must remain in custody.

"Based on reports and the approval of the relevant judge about the sickness of Ms. Shourd, her detention was converted to $500,000 bail, and if the bail is deposited, she can be released," the official IRNAnews agency quoted Dowlatabadi as saying.

Shourd's mother has said she has been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

The prosecutor said the decision has been relayed to her lawyer. Reached by telephone, her lawyer, Masoud Shafiei, refused to make any immediate comment.

Shourd, who has been held in solitary confinement, was to have been released Saturday as an act of clemency to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan after the intervention of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But the judiciary abruptly halted that planned release, indicating such a decision would have to first go through the courts.

Iran has accused the three Americans of illegally crossing the border and spying in a case that has deepened tensions with Washington — which has led the push for tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Their families say the Americans were hiking in Iraq's scenic north and that if they crossed the border, they did so unwittingly.

The prosecutor said the two other Americans would remain in custody. The prosecution's case against the three is nearly complete and a judge has issued indictments for all three on charges of spying, he said.

"The suspects did not confess but we have enough reasons in hand for their spying charges," Dowlatabadi said.

He rejected any link between the decision to grant Shourd bail and the return to Iran in July of nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri. Iran had accused the U.S. of abducting Amiri, while Washington said he was a willing defector who later changed his mind.

In the past, Ahmadinejad has suggested the three Americans could be traded for Iranians claimed to be held by the U.S.

The judiciary appeared to be using the issue of Shourd's release to flex its muscles in an internal political tussle with President Ahmadinejad. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry had announced that plans for her release on Saturday were the result of Ahmadinejad's personal intervention and reflected the "special viewpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the dignity of women."

Hours later, judiciary officials said the release was off — an embarrassing rebuke to Ahmadinejad. On Saturday, Dowlatabadi emphasized that any announcement about the American's release "would only come through the judiciary system."

The mixed signals point to one of the main fissures in Iran's conservative leadership: Ahmadinejad and his allies against conservative rivals in the powerful judiciary overseen by Iran's supreme leader.

In the past year, Iranian authorities have allowed bail or converted jail sentences to fines for two other high-profile detainees.

In May, French academic Clotilde Reiss was freed after her 10-year sentence on espionage-related charges was commuted to a fine equivalent to $300,000.

Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari of Newsweek was freed on $300,000 bail in October 2009 after nearly four months detention following the crackdown after the country's disputed presidential election. He was later sentenced in absentia to more than 13 years in prison and 50 lashes.

Iran has also used the case of the three Americans for propaganda purposes.

In May, Iran allowed the mothers of the three detainees to visit them in Iran, releasing them temporarily from Tehran's Evin prison for an emotional reunion at a hotel that received extensive coverage on the government's main English-language broadcast arm.