{"id":281883,"date":"2026-02-13T08:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281883\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:11:08","slug":"japan-seizes-chinese-fishing-boat-inside-its-economic-waters-amid-rift-with-beijing-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/281883\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan seizes Chinese fishing boat inside its economic waters amid rift with Beijing | Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authorities in Japan<\/a> have seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its captain in a move that is likely to inflame an ongoing diplomatic row<\/a> between Tokyo and Beijing.<\/p>\n

The seizure, which occurred on Thursday about 170km from the south-western port city of Nagasaki, came after the skipper refused an order to stop for an onboard inspection, according to media reports.<\/p>\n

A Japanese fisheries agency vessel intercepted the Chinese boat and its 11 crew after spotting it in Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone \u2013 an area within 200 nautical miles (370km) of its coastline.<\/p>\n

It is the first time the agency has seized a Chinese fishing boat since 2022, and the first incident of its kind involving any foreign fishing vessel this year. In 2025 it inspected a Taiwanese and South Korean vessel as part of a crackdown on illegal fishing.<\/p>\n

The Chinese boat\u2019s 47-year-old skipper was arrested on suspicion of attempting to evade an onboard inspection by a Japanese fisheries control officer. The Nikkei business newspaper said the vessel appeared to have been fishing for mackerel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vessel\u2019s captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but [it] failed to comply and fled,\u201d the agency said in a statement. \u201cConsequently, the captain was arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s chief cabinet secretary, Minoru Kihara, told reporters on Friday: \u201cWe will continue to take resolute action in our enforcement activities to prevent and deter illegal fishing operations by foreign vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n

China<\/a>\u2019s foreign ministry has yet to comment on the incident, which comes at a tense time for bilateral ties, weeks after Japan\u2019s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, sparked a furious row over the future of Taiwan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to MPs in November, Takaichi said Japan could become militarily involved<\/a> in the event of an attempted Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Takaichi, who is regarded as a China hawk, said her country\u2019s self-defence forces could deployed if a crisis in the Taiwan Strait created a \u201csurvival-threatening situation\u201d for Japan.<\/p>\n

The remarks, which she has refused to withdraw, prompted Beijing to call on Chinese nationals not to travel to Japan<\/a> as tourists or students, and led to the cancellation of cultural events.<\/p>\n

The dispute is also thought to be behind the decision not to send giant pandas to Japan \u2013 a goodwill gesture in place since the countries normalised diplomatic ties in 1972 \u2013 after the departure of two of the animals<\/a> from a Tokyo zoo last month.<\/p>\n

China and Japan are also embroiled in a longstanding territorial dispute that has been exacerbated by the actions of fishers. In 2010, the arrest of the captain<\/a> of a Chinese boat near the disputed Senkaku islands<\/a> triggered a major diplomatic row. The captain, whose boat had collided with a Japanese inspection vessel, was later released without charge.<\/p>\n

Recent media reports claimed that the government in Tokyo had privately urged Japanese fishers to steer clear of the Senkakus to avoid provoking China<\/a>. The uninhabited islands, which are surrounded by rich fishing grounds, are administered by Japan but claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyu.<\/p>\n

Officials in Japan, whose westernmost island Yonaguni<\/a> lies just 110km from Taiwan, believe a crisis surrounding the self-governed democracy could quickly threaten Japanese security.<\/p>\n

China insists that Taiwan is part of its territory and has not ruled out force to achieve \u201creunification\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, warned this week that other parts of the region would be targeted by China if it succeeded in seizing Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Beijing would become \u201cmore aggressive, undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and the rules-based international order\u201d, he said in an interview with Agence France-Presse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next countries under threat would be Japan, the Philippines and others in the Indo-Pacific region, with repercussions eventually reaching the Americas and Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to Takaichi\u2019s comments, Beijing conducted joint air drills with Russia, and in December jets from China\u2019s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar<\/a> on Japanese aircraft in international waters near the nawa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Takaichi, whose Liberal Democratic party won last week\u2019s lower house elections<\/a> by a landslide \u2013 partly on the back of strong public support for her stance on China \u2013 said this week she was \u201copen to dialogue\u201d with Beijing.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s foreign ministry said talks could not take place as long as Takaichi continued to choose \u201cconfrontation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Japan truly wants to develop a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with China, it\u2019s very easy and clear: withdraw Takaichi\u2019s erroneous remarks about Taiwan,\u201d ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.<\/p>\n

With Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities in Japan have seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its captain in a move that is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-281883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}