国内英语新闻:Chinese trawler crew seized by Japan return home on chartered flight

BEIJING/FUZHOU, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- A plane chartered by the Chinese government flew 14 Chinese fishermen illegally seized by Japanese authorities from Japan to the southeast China port city of Fuzhou Monday afternoon, after China's repeated solemn representations.

The fishermen were detained after the trawler they were aboard collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessels near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea last Tuesday. No injuries were reported from the collision.

Dressed in t-shirts and casual pants, the fishermen disembarked the plane and hugged their family members who had gathered at Changle International Airport in the coastal province of Fujian.

"Our safe return is due to the work of Chinese society, including the Party, the government and compatriots from all walks of life," said Wang Guohua, one of the crew members.

He said the Diaoyu Islands are Chinese territory and their detention by the Japanese authorities was illegal.

"For generations, we have fished in those waters and so how could they seize us?" he said.

The trawler, which was "illegally detained by the Japanese side," also set off for home Monday morning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Chinese government has dispatched a fisheries administration ship to the relevant waters to assist it.