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Japan's ambassador to China returned to Beijing on Monday after Tokyo summoned him over the weekend to discuss the escalating tension over a group of islands that both countries claim.

 

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba denied that the summoning of the ambassador, Uichiro Niwa, was meant as a protest to Beijing after Chinese patrol boats entered disputed waters near the islands, a ministry spokesman said.

 

The squabble over the islands, located near rich fishing grounds and potentially large oil and gas reserves, threatens to damage relations between Asia's two biggest economies.