Japan may demand compensation from Beijing for the repair of coast guard vessels damaged in a collision with a Chinese fishing boat that sparked the worst Sino-Japanese diplomatic dispute in years.
Tokyo on Monday said it was considering making a formal compensation claim after a weekend of testy exchanges that highlighted continuing tensions between the neighbours even after Japan released the captain of the Chinese fishing boat.
After the release of captain Zhan Qixiong on Saturday, Beijing demanded that Tokyo apologise and pay compensation for detaining him. Mr Zhan was detained several weeks ago after his boat collided with Japanese coast guard vessels near the Senkaku islands, an uninhabited group of isles controlled by Japan but claimed by China in the East China Sea.