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BEIJING - The immediate and unconditional release of the detained Chinese fisherman is the precondition for Sino-Japanese relations to return to normal, experts said Thursday, stressing that the Chinese government will "never waiver" on sovereignty issues.
China "acts sensibly" but Japan takes this as "weakness" and misjudges the situation, Gao Hong, deputy director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a key government think tank, told Xinhua.
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"Otherwise, China will take further actions," said Wen, who arrived in New York Tuesday for a three-day visit. "The Japanese side bears full responsibility for the current situation, and it shall bear all the consequences that arise."
Two Japan coast guard patrol ships and the Chinese fishing boat collided in waters off the Diaoyu Islands on September 7.
Wen said the Diaoyu Island is China's "sovereign territory" but the Japanese authorities illegally seized the Chinese trawler and fishermen and continues to illegally hold the trawler's captain, despite China's protestations.
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 the boundary of the Ryukyu Kingdom show that the Diaoyu Islands belonged to China.
Gao said Wen's criticism on Japan's mistake reflects the indignation of the Chinese people, and his words show that China will never give in on sovereignty issues.
He said China hopes Sino-Japanese relations will develop in a "harmonious and stable" manner and does not want to see them damaged but China cannot accept any act that "crosses the line."
"Any delay in releasing the fisherman will not help solve the issue," Gao said.
"If Japan continues its mistakes, China will take countermeasures" to safeguard its sovereignty, he said, adding that the international community sees that it is Japan that is making mistakes.
China had already suspended bilateral exchanges at and above the provincial and ministerial level. It has also suspended talks on increasing civilian flights between the two nations. A bilateral meeting on coal has also been postponed and the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan has plunged.
Fan Gaoyue, a research fellow with the People's Liberation Army's Academy of Military Sciences, said the countermeasures China may take may be economic in nature, if the situation escalates.
Prof. Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asia Institute at the National University of Singapore, said both economic and diplomatic countermeasures will be considered.
"Japan's economy relies more on China's than China's relies on Japan's," he said.