China seizes Japanese ship in case that stretches back to the '30s

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: LA Times

In a fresh reminder of the unresolved wartime grievances between China and Japan, authorities in Shanghai have seized a Japanese ship over claims dating back to the 1930s.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said Monday that one of its iron ore carriers, the Baosteel Emotion, was impounded Saturday. Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, denounced the move, saying it could have a “chilling effect” on all Japanese companies doing business in China. “We are deeply apprehensive,” he added.

Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have been on the rise. Japan is worried about China’s increasing military might, while China is nervous about efforts in Japan to revise its post-World War II pacifist constitution.

The two countries are sparring over a group of uninhabited islands, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s December visit to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo that critics say honors war criminals has drawn strong fire from Beijing. Abe on Monday sent a ritual offering to the shrine to mark the start of the spring festival

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-japan-china-ship-seized-20140421,0,3890839.story

[ManiacJoe]

1. It took until paragraph #7, but the important info is there even if buried.

Last edited Mon Apr 21, 2014, 09:19 PM - Edit history (1)

According to the Shanghai Maritime Court, the Baosteel Emotion was impounded because Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has failed to pay a Chinese company, the Chung Wei Steamship Co., about $28 million as ordered by Chinese courts in 2010.

According to a timeline of the dispute released Monday by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, in 1936, a Japanese company called Daido Kaiun – a predecessor to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines – chartered two ships from Chung Wei Steamship Co. They were later expropriated by the Japanese government and sank or were lost at sea during the Sino-Japanese war.

[davidpdx]

3. Yes, that was important to see

Not that I'm taking sides, but the story made more sense once you saw that.

I live in Korea and all three countries (China, Japan, and Korea) have a perpetual hatred of each other for various reasons. The claiming of large areas of international water by China has really fanned the flames.

[EX500rider]

2. if the Japanese govt seized them from Mitsui, why don't they owe the $?

[ManiacJoe]

4. The odds of being paid by Mitsui are higher

than the odds of the Japanese government paying.