A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that the video showing the collision between a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol boats, near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, cannot conceal Japan's unlawful actions.

"I would like to reiterate that the Japanese patrol boats had disturbed, driven away, intercepted, surrounded the Chinese fishing boat, which led to the collision," spokesman Hong Lei said.

Their action was illegal in itself, he said when asked to comment on the release and distribution of the collision video on the Internet, according to a Foreign Ministry press release.

"The so-called video cannot change the fact and cannot conceal the unlawfulness of the Japanese ac tion," he added.