A judicial panel of citizens in Okinawa Prefecture determined Wednesday that the Chinese captain of a trawler involved in high-profile collisions with two Japanese patrol boats in the East China Sea should be indicted for damaging the vessels.
The independent panel concluded in April that the 42-year-old captain merited indictment for obstructing the Japan Coast Guard in its duties by ramming his trawler into one of the boats.
The Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office decided last fall not to indict Zhan Qixiong, citing diplomatic considerations.
Despite the independent panel's decision, it is unlikely Zhan will be indicted because he was allowed to return to China.
Relations between Japan and China soured after the coast guard arrested Zhan on Sept. 7 over the collision with the patrol boat Mizuki near the Senkaku Islands, a group of islets administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan.