TOKYO, Japan — Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said Friday, in a move likely to further heighten tensions with Beijing.
In November, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enraged China by suggesting that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.
“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.
“Consequently, the vessel’s captain was arrested on the same day,” according to a statement.
The incident happened on Thursday inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki Prefecture, 89.4 nautical miles (165 kilometres) south-southwest of the island of Meshima, it added.