The Japanese government is examining whether footage allegedly showing a Chinese fishing trawling crashing into a Japanese Coast Guard vessel is authentic. The incident caused a diplomatic crisis in September after Japan detained the fishing boat captain.
Coast guard spokeswoman Mariko Inoue said the government is checking into the video, which was shown on YouTube and then Japanese television networks.
The Sept. 7 collision sparked a high-level tiff with Beijing because it occurred in waters near a group of islands claimed by Japan and China in the East China Sea. Several large anti-Japanese demonstrations have occurred in response across China.
The video has raised concerns it could rekindle the dispute ahead of an international summit in Japan next week. Tokyo hopes to have a bilateral meeting with China’s leader on the sidelines of the summit.
The video showed a trawler bumping a Japanese vessel, while sirens wailed in the background and the Japanese crew shouted orders for the ship to stop. A voice on the video said in Japanese, “The ship is taking aggressive action.” The ship then appeared to ram the Japanese vessel.
“Check our position!,” the voice said. The trawler then steamed away.
