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Agence France-Presse

Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said on Friday, in a move likely to further heighten tensions with Beijing.
In November, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enraged mainland China by suggesting that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.
“The vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled,” Japan’s fisheries agency said.
“Consequently, the vessel’s captain was arrested on the same day,” according to a statement.
The incident happened on Thursday inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki prefecture, 89.4 nautical miles (165km) south-southwest of the island of Meshima, it added.
It was the first time since 2022 that the agency has seized a Chinese fishing boat.
The skipper in the latest incident is a 47-year-old Chinese national. There were 11 people on board including the captain.
“We will continue to ‌take resolute action in our enforcement activities to ⁠prevent and deter illegal fishing operations by foreign vessels,” ⁠Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a regular press conference on Friday.


China has a number of territorial disputes with Japan and there have been repeated incidents around the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Tokyo.
The arrest of another Chinese fishing boat captain in 2010 off those islands in the East China Sea became a major diplomatic incident between the two countries.
Tokyo and Beijing have close economic ties but Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan have sent relations spiralling downwards again.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. While many nations, including the US, do not officially acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state, they oppose any use of force to alter the existing status quo.
After Takaichi’s comments, Beijing summoned Tokyo’s ambassador, warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia.
In December, J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.
China also tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, fuelling worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare earth minerals.
In addition, Beijing reportedly suspended imports of Japanese seafood.


Japan’s last two pandas were even returned to China last month.
Takaichi, 64, was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first female prime minister in October.
She won a landslide victory in a snap election on Sunday, putting her in a strong position for the next four years to stamp her mark on Japanese domestic and foreign policy.
She said on Monday she was “open to various dialogues with China”.
But China’s foreign ministry said “genuine dialogue should be built on respect for one another”.
“Proclaiming dialogue with one’s mouth while engaging in confrontation – no one will accept this kind of dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news briefing on Tuesday.
“If Japan truly wants to develop a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with (mainland) China, it’s very easy and clear: withdraw Takaichi’s erroneous remarks about Taiwan,” he said.


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News

Asia

East Asia

This is the first time since 2022 that Tokyo’s fisheries agency has seized a Chinese fishing vessel


This is the first time since 2022 that Tokyo’s fisheries agency has seized a Chinese fishing vessel.


China-Japan relations

Sanae Takaichi

Japan seizes Chinese fishing boat off Nagasaki, arrests skipper

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}This is the first time since 2022 that Tokyo’s fisheries agency has seized a Chinese fishing vessel

This is the first time since 2022 that Tokyo’s fisheries agency has seized a Chinese fishing vessel