2010-09-21 16:00

BEIJING - China believes it is not the proper time to arrange meetings between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the Japanese side at a UN summit in New York this week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

China-Japan relations have been affected after a collision between a Chinese trawler and Japanese coast guard vessels in waters off the Diaoyu Islands on September 7.

The Japanese side illegally seized the Chinese trawler and fishermen, and continued to illegally hold the Chinese captain despite protests by the Chinese side, and extended the detention of the captain to September 29.

The incident had severely damaged bilateral relations. To avoid escalating tensions, Japan should let the Chinese trawler caption return, Jiang said.

"Japan holds the key to solve the problems, and the Japanese side should correctly understand the current situation and let the captain return immediately and unconditionally," Jiang said.