Japanese foreign minister: China must resolve detention of 4 Japanese to mend frayed ties

Japan: China must resolve detention of 4 Japanese

TOKYO — China needs to resolve the case of four Japanese nationals it is holding as the first step toward repairing ties that have been strained over a territorial dispute, Japan’s foreign minister Wednesday.

Japanese trading company officials, meanwhile, said China appeared to have lifted a de facto ban on Japan-bound exports of rare earth metals, which are crucial for advanced manufacturing, suggesting tensions might be easing between the two trading partners.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said the four Japanese citizens, held for questioning by Chinese authorities since last week on suspicion of illegally filming military facilities, would be visited by consular officials for a second time Wednesday.

“We want this to be quickly and peacefully resolved,” Maehara said in an interview with a small group of journalists. “That would be a first step” toward mending relations with China.

Both Tokyo and Beijing have said it is up to the other side to take steps to repair ties that have plunged to their lowest level in years over a territorial spat triggered by a Sept. 7 collision between a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese patrol boats near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Tokyo released the fishing boat captain involved in the crash Saturday, but tensions failed to ease after Beijing demanded an apology over the incident — which in turn prompted Tokyo to demand that China pay for damages to its patrol boats.

Straining ties further, Beijing said last Thursday it was holding four Japanese citizens that it suspects of entering a military zone without authorization and filming installations there.

Their employer, construction company Fujita Corp., has said the men were in China working to prepare a bid for a project to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned in China by the Japanese military during World War II.

According to reports in Chinese state media, the four are being held in a hotel in Shijiazhuang in Hebai province.

Japanese trading company officials, meanwhile, said Wednesday that China has given the green light to Japan-bound exports of the rare earth metals, but that the shipments have not arrived in Japan due to tighter custom inspections at Chinese ports.

China, which produces more than 95 percent of the world’s supply of rare earths, has denied there was a ban. But Japanese traders said that shipments of rare earth had stopped since last week, prompting Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Banri Kaieda to warn Tuesday that it could have “a very big impact on Japan’s economy.”

Japan imports 50 percent of China’s rare earth shipments. The metallic elements crucial for superconductors, computers, hybrid electric cars and other high-tech products.

Associated Press writer Shino Yuasa contributed to this report.