Japanese officials said they have detained a Chinese fishing vessel after it allegedly ignored orders to halt for an inspection in Japan’s exclusive maritime economic zone.
Although Japan has detained fishing boats from South Korea and Taiwan in recent years, this is the first case involving a Chinese vessel since 2022. This comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.
Japan’s Fisheries Agency said on Friday that the vessel’s captain – a 47-year-old Chinese national – was arrested on suspicion of “trying to evade an onboard inspection” in waters off Nagasaki prefecture in southwest Japan on Thursday, about 89.4 nautical miles (165km) south-southwest of Meshima Island, according to Kyodo News.
The agency said in a statement: “The vessel’s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled.
“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, it added.
NHK Japan reported that 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,” the outlet said.
Beijing has not yet publicly responded to the incident.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara said on Friday that Japan “will continue to take resolute action in our enforcement activities to prevent and deter illegal fishing operations by foreign vessels”.
Ties between Japan and China sank to the worst level in years after Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi, just a month after taking office in 2025, triggered a diplomatic row by claiming that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese military response. Beijing responded with export curbs, flight cancellations and vitriolic commentaries, repeatedly demanding a retraction.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and does not rule out the use of force to reunify it with the mainland. Beijing objects to the involvement of third countries in Taiwan, notably the US, which is the main supplier of weapons to the island.
Ms Takaichi later explained that Tokyo would act within the limits of its legal framework.
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