TEMPO



 

Japan said it seized a Chinese fishing vessel and arrested its captain for allegedly fleeing inspection in the nation's exclusive economic zone, adding to tensions between the countries.

"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.

Japan said the boat was seized in waters off southwest Nagasaki prefecture. There were 10 more people on board besides the captain.

While ‌Japan has seized fishing vessels from South Korea and Taiwan in recent years, the incident is the first involving a vessel from China since 2022. 


China and Japan Locked in a Dispute Over Taiwan

The incident is one that comes against the backdrop of an ongoing diplomatic feud between China and Japan.

The spat began last year in November, after Japan's new conservative leader Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack against Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Takaichi's comments were much stronger than her predecessors', and China took issue with that. Since then, China has: 

• summoned the Japanese ambassador
• warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan
• conducted joint air drills with Russia
• tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses
• fueled worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals
• suspended imports of Japanese seafood
• accepted the return of Japan's last two pandas

Tensions deepened in December, after Tokyo accused Chinese military planes of locking their radar on to Japanese fighter jets near the Okinawa Islands. 

There are also longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries, including China's military presence in the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are called Diaoyu in Chinese.