"The Foreign Ministry claimed Niwa's return to Japan is not a 'recall' aimed at protesting against China. However, a temporary visit home, as a diplomatic convention, is often used as a countermeasure," Kyodo said.

Tension between China and Japan rose in April when Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said that his city prefecture was negotiating with the "owner" of the Diaoyu Islands to "buy them by the end of the year" and started raising money for the proposal.

On July 7, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said his government was negotiating with a "private owner" to "nationalize" part of the Diaoyu Islands. The islands are in Chinese territorial waters.

Beijing responded firmly, and made repeated representations to Tokyo and sent fishery administration ships to patrol waters off the islands.

Tokyo decided to call back Niwa temporarily after Gemba met with Foreign Ministry Yang Jiechi in Cambodia on Wednesday on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting.

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.

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