About 30 lawmakers saw video footage of the September 7 collisions between the Chinese boat and Japanese patrol vessels after a high-speed chase near a disputed island chain called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan also reiterated the island chain was Japanese territory.

"It showed the moments of collisions very clearly. It was the Chinese ship that bumped into (Japanese vessels)," said Hiroshi Nakai, chairman of the lower House of Representatives Budget Committee.

The footage confirmed the Japanese government's stand that the ramming was intentional on the Chinese ship's part, the ruling-party lawmaker said after seeing the edited video, whose total duration is less than seven minutes.

It threatens to further inflame a row that has escalated into protests, seen meetings between the two sides scrapped, and triggered accusations from Tokyo that China is blocking exports of vital minerals.

However, Beijing's response to the video was muted, saying it changed nothing and reiterating its own claim that the disputed islands had been an integral part of China since ancient times.

"The fact that the Japanese patrol boats had disturbed, driven away, intercepted, surrounded and held the Chinese fishing boat was illegal in itself and severely infringed on China's sovereignty and Chinese fishermen's rights and interests," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said.

"The so-called video cannot change the fact and cannot cover the unlawfulness of the Japanese action," he added, according to the state Xinhua news agency.

Japan's coast guard on September 8 arrested the Chinese captain of the fishing boat, but it released him weeks later following a barrage of protests and reprimands from China which called the arrest invalid and illegal.

The Tokyo government has refused to release the video publicly amid fears that it would inflame the row.

"(The Chinese vessel) intentionally collided... We must release this not only domestically but also internationally and show what was the truth," said Yasuhisa Shiozaki, of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party.

The row flared up again Saturday when China cancelled at the last minute a formal meeting between Prime Ministers Wen Jiabao and Kan in Hanoi. The two later held brief informal talks.

"It has been our country's territory since more than 100 years ago. China began to claim it since the 1970s when the talks of undersea gas emerged," Kan said in a parliament session.

"It is clear that the Senkakus are our country's territory from any point of view."

Seeking fence-mending opportunities, Japan said it expects Chinese President Hu Jintao to visit and hold talks with Kan during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meetings near Tokyo this month.

"I predict that he will come as scheduled and hold some sort of talks" with Kan, chief government spokesman Yoshito Sengoku told reporters.

Voter support for Kan's government dropped by 31 points in October from the previous month in the wake of the row, according to a poll by the business daily Nikkei.

Kan has come under criticism for his handling of the dispute with Beijing, with Tokyo seen at home to have capitulated under pressure after the Chinese fisherman was released by prosecutors without indictment.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said Monday it planned to send a mission to China in mid-December, but that he visit was part of exchanges between the party and China's governing Communist Party.

"We don't intend to be engaged in diplomacy, which is what the government should do," said DPJ secretary general Katsuya Okada.

In another diplomatic headache, Tokyo summoned Moscow's ambassador to protest Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to a disputed islet in the Kuril Islands, which the Japanese government condemned as "very regrettable".

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News