The government will file suit against the Chinese captain of a fishing boat that collided with a Japan Coast Guard ship off the Senkaku Islands in 2010, transport minister Akihiro Ota said Wednesday.
The skipper, Zhan Qixiong, 44, has not responded to repeated claims for damages of ¥14.29 million to compensate repair costs by the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha, Okinawa.
The government decided to take legal action before the right to damages legally expires Feb. 20, Ota said.
Video of the collision is to be officially published along with the lawsuit, three years after a Coast Guardsman posted it to YouTube without permission, triggering a controversy.
Ota said the video is not subject to the recently enacted state secrets protection law, and that the decision has been made by the entire government.