Japanese authorities have seized a Chinese fishing vessel and arrested the captain for allegedly defying an order to stop for inspection by fisheries authorities in Japan’s exclusive maritime economic zone, officials said.
While Japan has seized fishing vessels from South Korea and Taiwan in recent years, the incident is the first involving a Chinese vessel since 2022 and could inflame tensions between Tokyo and Beijing, following a bitter diplomatic dispute between the two countries late last year.
Japan’s Fisheries Agency said on Friday that the boat’s captain, a 47-year-old Chinese national, was arrested and accused of “trying to evade an onboard inspection” in waters off Japan’s southwest Nagasaki Prefecture on Thursday, 89.4 nautical miles (165km) south-southwest of Meshima Island, the Kyodo News agency reports.
“The vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled,” the agency said in a statement.
“Consequently, the vessel’s captain was arrested on the same day,” the agency said. There were a further 10 people on board at the time, the agency added.
Japanese broadcaster NHK said the vessel was “capable of catching a large quantity of fish such as mackerel and horse mackerel”.
“The agency suspects the boat may have entered Japan’s EEZ (exclusive economic zone) to conduct illicit fishing. It has not disclosed whether the captain admitted to the allegations, saying it might influence the investigation,” NHK reports.
