Diplomatic sources said Japan is expected to release the captain on humanitarian grounds after it completes its investigation, ending the immediate dispute but not resolving the issue of the uninhabited islands.
The Senkaku dispute provides another example for growing U.S. concerns over China's aggressiveness and efforts to seek control over others' territory and international waters.
In July, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged China over its claims to wide areas of the South China Sea. She said "the United States has a national interest in freedom of navigation, open access to Asia's maritime commons and respect for international law in the South China Sea." U.S. officials said the comment is part of a broader effort to push back against growing Chinese hegemony in Southeast and Northeast Asia.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in an e-mail that "there is some increased tension" between the two Asian giants over the islands dispute.
"But we believe this can be resolved by Japan and China," he said. "We have not been asked to intercede in any way at this point."
China's government this week blocked the visit to Beijing by Robert Einhorn, special State Department adviser on nonproliferation and arms control, who had planned to discuss China's support for sanctions on Iran and North Korea.
Mr. Einhorn was to be part of an Obama administration interagency team to "discuss sanctions implementation with regard to both North Korea and Iran," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.
"The Chinese asked for a delay due to lack of availability of key interlocutors. We are working with them to reschedule," he said.
A State Department official said later that the U.S. delegation will ask China to carry out a "conscientious implementation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iran and North Korea.
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