Japan and China remained at loggerheads Tuesday over the arrest of the captain of a Chinese fishing boat, with some Japanese officials joining their Chinese counterparts in canceling scheduled meetings despite Japan's top government spokesman calling for self-restraint from both sides.
Both Japan and China "should not arouse extreme nationalism," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said at a news conference in the wake of Beijing's announcement it had suspended ministerial- and higher-level exchanges to protest Tokyo's detention of the skipper.
"We will use various channels to call on China to resolve this issue without escalating it further from the standpoint of forging strategic, mutually beneficial relations and of peace and prosperity in East Asia and Asia-Pacific," Sengoku said.