China said Tuesday that the arrest over the weekend of a Chinese fishing boat skipper followed normal maritime practices.
"This is a regular fisheries case," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in dismissing the likelihood of a repeat of the diplomatic spat that erupted last year following a collision between a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol boats near the disputed Senkaku islands.
"China hopes that Japan takes concrete measures to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese fisherman and properly handles the issue as soon as possible," Hong told a regular news briefing.
Zhang Tianxiong, 47, was arrested Sunday following a 4½-hour bid to flee from a Japan Coast Guard cutter that issued an inspection request in Japanese territorial waters off Nagasaki Prefecture.
The Chinese fishing boat captain involved in the incident last year was arrested on suspicion of willfully ramming Japanese patrol boats, but he was later freed due to diplomatic considerations.