Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper for allegedly defying an order to stop while within Japan's exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki Prefecture, the Fisheries Agency said early Friday.
The incident marks the first time since 2022 that the agency has seized a Chinese fishing boat. The vessel is also the first foreign fishing boat seized by the agency this year.
The skipper, a 47-year-old Chinese national, was arrested Thursday and stands accused of trying to evade an on-board inspection by a Japanese fisheries control officer about 170 kilometers southwest of the island of Meshima in Goto, Nagasaki.
According to the agency's office for the Kyushu region, the boat had a crew of 11.
The agency conducts on-board inspections and other operations against illegal fishing in waters around Japan. It said that it seized two foreign fishing vessels last year -- one Taiwanese and the other South Korean.
In 2024, the agency conducted seven on-board inspections, seized a Taiwanese fishing boat and had 18 cases in which illegal fishing gear was confiscated, according to its annual report.
© KYODO
12 Comments
Login to comment
MaxRexFox
Cue Chinese outrage at this abominable attack on an innocent itinerant fisherman who is just trying to feed his family...
sakurasuki
Very likely that Chinese won't be stay calm after this incident
GuruMick
Fair cop....Australia taking an aggressive stance in its northern sea borders
Unsure how we stop the super ships that vacuum the whole sea bed.....often sent by EU countries like Norway
obladi
Fishing disputes are one place where Japan can lay down the law without too much blowback. But the ownership of Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands is a much more volatile matter that must be handled carefully in order not to push the two countries into a stand-off that neither can back away from.
ian
Hahahaha
Agent_Neo
In the September 2010 incident in which a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel off the coast of the Senkaku Islands (Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture), the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office's decision to release the arrested Chinese captain without further action was reportedly cited as "protecting the Senkaku Islands from China."
In a case where the administration was cozying up to China, then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and others in the Prime Minister's Office reportedly conveyed their desire to "release" the captain. Former Foreign Minister and House of Representatives member Seiji Maehara also stated that the release was "an instruction from Prime Minister Kan."
It is unusual for prosecutors, who base their work on "law and evidence," to take political factors into consideration, but a prosecutor familiar with the situation at the time said, "The administration lacked the information, equipment, and resolve to protect the Senkaku Islands, and public opinion had not been sufficiently cultivated. Considering the national interest, they could not abandon important territory for the sake of judicial appearances."
Such an approach is unlikely to be taken under the Takaichi administration.
daikaka
Chinese netizens would be asking for war with Japan now even harder, of course many are already claiming Kyushu in addition to Okinawa as part of their territory.
P_C
how does this culminate in an arrest and boarding the vessel. what happened to water cannons to persuade to turn the heck around?
nosushiforyou
And as my user name says, "NO SUSHI FOR YOU!"
Those were the last words the illegal Chinese captain/fisherman heard from the Japanese Coast Guard after he was detained.
quercetum
Skip a few episodes. China will leverage rare earths. There’s little Japan can do but that’s for when the wheels come off.
Recently, Japanese media announced with great fanfare the discovery of 16 million tons of rare earth minerals in waters near Minami-Torishima Island, approximately 2,000 kilometers from the mainland, claiming it ranks third globally in reserves.
This so-called "major discovery" was first reported by Japanese media back in 2012, with headlines even more sensational than today's. By 2018, Japan had recycled the same story once again, claiming the rare earths discovered could supply global demand for hundreds of years. Now in 2026, the news has resurfaced yet again, using virtually identical wording from eight years ago.
So no Japan has no rare earths it processes commercially and it would be foolish to replay 2012 with today’s China. Best to get along with your neighbors.
quercetum
I think there’s some confusion here, so let me clarify a few points.
Okinawa was historically part of the Ryukyu Kingdom, known in Chinese sources in the Ming as 小琉球國, while Taiwan was referred to as 大琉球國 during parts of the Ming period. The Ryukyu Kingdom had its own distinct political status and tributary relationships, and Taiwan’s status also changed over time, including its annexation by the Qing.
However, Okinawa has not historically been claimed as Chinese territory in the way you’re suggesting. an d neither had Kyushu.
Equating historical naming conventions or tributary ties with formal territorial claims is misleading.
If we’re going to discuss history, we should at least be accurate about the distinctions between tribute relationships, naming, and sovereignty. We should also be honest about claims made by net citizens.
DeeZee
Only economic sanctions and a military response is appropriate for Japan at this point. Anything less is an insult to the Chinese people