Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- A Japanese court has extended the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain, as diplomatic tensions between the two countries rise.
The Ishigaki Summary Court in Okinawa decided that the captain will be held at least until September 29, the Japanese Coast Guard told CNN on Monday.
The ruling comes after China warned Sunday that it would take "strong counter measures" against Japan, if the captain was not released. China has already suspended high-level bilateral exchanges with Japan over the issue.
The captain was arrested earlier this month off the disputed Diaoyu Islands, in the East China Sea, after his vessel crashed into two Japanese patrol boats. He is accused of obstructing Japanese public officers while they performed duties.
In a late-night phone conversation with the Japanese ambassador in Beijing Sunday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya said the captain's detention had "severely damaged China-Japan relations," the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
CNN
