Japanese authorities have seized a Chinese fishing vessel and arrested its captain in an incident likely to deepen an already fraught diplomatic relationship between Tokyo and Beijing.
The boat was intercepted on Thursday about 170 kilometres from the south-western port city of Nagasaki after its skipper ignored repeated orders to stop for an inspection, according to Japanese media reports.
A vessel from Japan’s fisheries agency pursued the boat after spotting it inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from the coastline. Eleven crew members were on board.
It is the first time since 2022 that Japan has seized a Chinese fishing vessel, and the first case involving any foreign fishing boat this year. In 2025, Japanese authorities inspected vessels from Taiwan and South Korea as part of a wider crackdown on illegal fishing.
The captain, a 47-year-old Chinese national, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to evade an inspection by a fisheries control officer. The Nikkei business daily reported that the vessel appeared to have been fishing for mackerel.
“The vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but failed to comply and fled,” the fisheries agency said. “As a result, the captain was arrested.”
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Minoru Kihara, said the government would continue to act firmly against illegal fishing by foreign vessels.
“We will take resolute action in our enforcement activities to prevent and deter illegal fishing operations,” he told reporters on Friday.
China’s foreign ministry had not commented by Friday, but the incident comes at a sensitive moment in relations between the two countries.
Tensions flared weeks earlier after Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said Tokyo could become militarily involved if China attempted to invade Taiwan. Speaking to lawmakers in November, she said Japan’s self-defence forces could be deployed if a crisis in the Taiwan Strait threatened the country’s survival.
Beijing condemned the remarks and urged Chinese citizens to avoid travel to Japan. Cultural exchanges were cancelled, and China declined to send giant pandas to Japan following the departure of two animals from a Tokyo zoo last month. The panda loans had long been regarded as a symbol of goodwill since diplomatic ties were normalised in 1972.
Japan and China are also locked in a longstanding territorial dispute over the uninhabited Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyu. The surrounding waters are rich fishing grounds and have been a frequent source of confrontation.
In 2010, the arrest of a Chinese boat captain near the islands sparked a major diplomatic crisis after his vessel collided with a Japanese patrol ship. He was later released without charge.
Recent reports suggest Tokyo has privately advised Japanese fishers to avoid the area to prevent further clashes. The islands are administered by Japan but claimed by China.
Japanese officials believe any conflict over Taiwan could quickly affect Japan’s security. The country’s westernmost island, Yonaguni, lies just 110 kilometres from Taiwan.
China maintains that Taiwan is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve what it calls reunification.
Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, warned this week that other countries in the region would face threats if China succeeded in taking control of the island.
He said China would become more aggressive, undermining stability in the Indo-Pacific, and warned that Japan, the Philippines and other countries could be next.
Following Takaichi’s comments, China carried out joint air drills with Russia. In December, jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar onto Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa.
Despite the tensions, Takaichi said this week she remained open to dialogue with Beijing. Her Liberal Democratic Party won last week’s lower house elections by a landslide, buoyed in part by public support for her tough stance on China.
China’s foreign ministry said talks could not proceed while Japan continued what it called a confrontational approach.
“If Japan truly wants a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with China, the path is clear,” said ministry spokesperson Lin Jian. “It must withdraw the erroneous remarks on Taiwan.”
