Japan: Freeing Chinese Nobel winner 'desirable'

TOKYO — Japan's prime minister guardedly said Thursday that it would be "desirable" for China to free Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, but stopped short of specifically calling for the imprisoned dissident's release. The comments reflect the diplomatic tightrope that Tokyo must walk as it seeks to patch up ties with Beijing frayed by a diplomatic spat last month over a collision near disputed islands in the East China Sea. "Basic human rights and freedom must be protected. From that standpoint, my view is that the release is desirable," Prime Minister Naoto Kan told fellow members of parliament. The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored Liu last week for more than two decades of advocacy of human rights and peaceful democratic change that started with the demonstrations at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. China has been infuriated by the prize, accusing other countries of using the award to attack Beijing and warning that it won't change the communist nation's political course. Last month, Beijing broke off ministerial-level contacts with Tokyo over the territorial dispute that was triggered by the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain after he collided with two Japanese patrol boats near a string of tiny islands that Japan controls but China also claims. After Japan released the captain, Kan last week told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that Tokyo had declared an end to the spat, although the territorial question has not been resolved. "Japan-China ties are now in the process of returning to the original point of (improving) strategically mutually beneficial ties. They are heading toward a good direction," Kan said. "My position is to act by taking into consideration national interests as well as my personal views." Liu, a 54-year-old literary critic, is now in the second year of an 11-year prison term after being convicted of inciting subversion over his role in writing an influential 2008 manifesto for political reform. Meanwhile, officials in Tokyo say they still haven't seen an improvement in China's de facto ban on exports of rare earth minerals that are crucial for advanced manufacturing. China, which produces 97 percent of the global supply of rare earths, has denied that it has halted exports of the materials. But Japanese companies have said shipments have virtually stopped following the spat, held up at Chinese ports by increased paperwork and inspections. — AP