While the move also boosts China's communist leaders at home, where the case sparked strong nationalist sentiment, Japan's young centre-left government was accused domestically of simply caving in to Beijing's bullying.

Japan said Friday it would free the captain it arrested two weeks ago after a tense maritime incident near a disputed island chain in the East China Sea, hoping to end an ugly and damaging row with its traditional Asian rival.

The dispute had quickly blown up into their worst in years, with a furious China launching a fusillade of protests, freezing official exchanges and, industry sources say, halting crucial rare earth mineral exports.

In the latest escalation, China has detained four Japanese nationals for allegedly filming at a military site, although a conciliatory Japan was quick to stress it did not regard them as pawns in the standoff.

Japanese prosecutors moved to calm the storm by announcing the release of the captain, a decision they said was aimed at helping repair ties with China.

"This is a victory for Beijing's diplomacy," said Li Mingjiang, from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. "Many people in this region will conclude that Beijing's pressure tactics have worked in this case."

After China's concerted offensive, he added, "many people in the region will also conclude that Beijing does have all the leverage necessary to pursue its own national interests when it comes to territorial disputes".

Beijing's win in the battle of wills over Tokyo comes at a time when China's economic and military rise have triggered both envy and fear, and as Beijing has acted with increased assertiveness in its maritime territorial claims.

Washington -- openly worried about China's growing military muscle -- sided with its long-time ally Japan in the row, moving to reaffirm a relationship that has been strained in the past year by a dispute over a US base.

The United States has recently also voiced support for other nations that have long-running territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea, where China has, for example, detained Vietnamese fishing boats.

Li said: "This crisis will send a signal to all the claimant states in the South China Sea that they all need to practise self-restraint, otherwise they will get into a crisis situation that will be very difficult to handle, given China's growing power. The Chinese government means business."

In Japan -- which was overtaken this year by China as the world's number two economy -- Friday's move was met with indignation from conservatives, who did not buy the government's assertion that prosecutors had acted independently.

"It was an extremely foolish decision," charged hawkish former prime minister Shinzo Abe of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, adding: "Japanese politics caved in to pressure from China."

"I cannot help being aghast by such a clear diplomatic defeat," agreed Yoshimi Watanabe, leader of a smaller grouping called Your Party. "We have to criticise the weak diplomacy of the (Prime Minister Naoto) Kan government."

Many observers said the row caught Japan's leaders flat-footed, having started at a time when Kan was distracted by a party leadership challenge.

"Japan was constantly behind in its actions," said Ryosei Kokubun, a professor specialising in Chinese politics at Keio University.

"Japan was baffled by how hard-line China came off, but that's how China also feels about Japan's stance over the issue. This shows how fragile the Japan-China relationship still is."

Hidenori Ijiri, professor of international politics at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, said that "the way China pressured Japan... was pretty ugly".

"Japan must not set the precedent that it is a country that easily gives in to pressure from Beijing... But Japan thought it should not drag this out any longer. I would say this shows the weakness of Japanese diplomacy."

The affair showed that it is "difficult for Tokyo to face Beijing alone," he said. "It needs to keep good relations with Washington and Southeast Asian nations -- not necessarily to contain China, but to increase its options."

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