China, Japan Take New Jabs at Each Other

SHANGHAI—A rift between China and Japan showed no signs of easing, as Chinese customs appeared to be targeting some goods bound for Japan with meticulous inspections and as Tokyo also kept up the heat on Beijing.

Rancor has continued between the two Asian powers even though Japanese prosecutors on Friday decided to release the captain of a fishing vessel, whose detention after a collision with Japanese coast guard boats three weeks ago enraged the Chinese government.

As the captain, Zhan Qixiong, received a celebratory welcome in southern China over the weekend, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan rejected Beijing's request to apologize for his detention. On Monday, Tokyo said it would ask Beijing to pay an unspecified sum in restitution for alleged damage to its patrol boats that it says were rammed by Mr. Zhan. "The ball is in China's court," said Yoshito Sengoku, Japan's chief government spokesman, told a news conference.

Later, Japanese officials said China's envoy to Tokyo was summoned by the Foreign Ministry to discuss other wrinkles in the relationship. Adding to tensions were reports of fresh movements by Chinese vessels in the disputed waters.

Referring to the reports that China had slowed exports to Japan, Kurt M. Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said, "I don't think such actions lead to an increase in confidence." He added, "Quite the contrary, they are worrisome."

Speaking in a briefing Monday afternoon following United Nations meetings in New York, Mr. Campbell said the U.S., Japan, and China are "deeply engaged in the global economy," so each has a stake in making sure such matters are resolved quickly and peacefully.

Mr. Campbell, in referring to the area of the East China Sea where the trawler dispute occurred, near islands both China and Japan claim, said the U.S. stands strongly behind its treaty obligations to Japan as they relate to territory, but "we don't take a position on territorial issues with regard to the [islands]. , and this is a long-standing U.S. position."

Shippers in several Chinese cities said customs officers have stepped up spot inspections of goods being loaded onto ships bound for Japan and being imported from the country. Traders said officers in some cases weretaking the highly unusual step of looking at every item in a container instead of following normal practice of examining a small sample.

The heavy searches, which can add costly delays to shipments, appeared to represent the latest sign of Beijing's anger about the Sept. 7 detention of the captain. China and Japan both celebrated holidays over the past week, but import-export agents said this alone couldn't fully explain the trade disruption

The broad processing slowdown by Chinese customs could be why executives in the rare-earth minerals industry last week reported signs that shipments to Japan from China had stopped. Both Tokyo and Beijing have denied there was any rare-earth embargo, and the cause of the reported shipping problems has remained unclear. Added customs inspections don't appear to target rare earth materials, though such shipments may have been caught up in the wider slowdown.

In the past, China has sometimes appeared to use foot-dragging at ports to make a point with a trading partner. Traders said that for now the added inspections were slowing, rather than halting, trade. China Customs declined to comment.

China is expected to overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy this year. China and Japan are major trading partners, with trade between them valued at around $138 billion in the year's first half, according to Japanese data.

"Some private-sector companies notified us of the tightened inspections," an official at Japan's Foreign Ministry said Monday, adding that the ministry is looking into the situation.

In Japan, a spokesman for shipper Nippon Express Co. said it has seen inspection rates on goods being exported to Japan in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities rise to 30%-40% in recent days, from 10% or 20% normally.

Shenzhen Tenglong Logistics Co. said nearly all Japan-bound goods that it handled were being inspected. At Blue Express (Shanghai) International Trade Inc., a manager said some 50% of goods for Japan were being inspected, up from 10% or 20% normally.

The Chinese action didn't affect all goods. Several Chinese sellers of Japan-bound perishable fruits and vegetables said they faced no delays. Gao Dazhao, chief executive officer of a Jiangsu province exporter of broccoli and onions, Xuzhou Runjia Food Co., said he is used to dealing with occasional customs clearance delays but he added that currently "we do not have any problem at customs."

Shanghai, which is positioning itself as a global logistics center, has restructured customs procedures with a grading system for trading companies. Companies with higher grades appeared to be having fewer difficulties with Japan-related trade.

Kevin Huang, business manager of Pan-Pacific Logistics & Trade Co., for instance, said his company has a grade-A rating and while it hasn't seen a higher percentage of goods being examined, inspections took place on more days than usual in the past week. "So it's fair to say the checks have been tightened to some extent," he said.

It remains unclear how long the procedures might remain in place. "We received September delivery, [but] we're very worried about October delivery," said an official with Japan Coal Development Co., a coal-trading joint venture owned by 10 Japanese utilities.

The difficulties reported by rare-earth executives Sept. 21, on the eve of China's national holiday, prompted media reports that China had embargoed shipments of the minerals in retaliation for Japan's detention of the Chinese fishing-boat captain. Those reports, in turn, prompted international concern because China has a near-monopoly on rare earths, which are essential for producing electric-car batteries and other high-tech and defense products.

While Mr. Zhan, the captain, received a public welcome upon his return to his home province of Fujian, Chinese authorities appeared to otherwise keep him largely out of the limelight.

Mr. Campbell, the U.S. State Department official, on Monday praised Japan's release of the captain, adding the Japanese prime minister has handled the difficult issue "in a very statesman-like fashion, which shows that it showed "vision and appreciation for how important it is for a peaceful, diplomatic process in an issue like this."

Jerome Cohen, an adjunct senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the tensions underline the need to establish better communication channels to ensure that a small incident does not "provoke a much bigger incident."

—Juliet Ye in Shanghai and Mari Iwata in Tokyo contributed to this article.

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