Japan arrests Chinese fisherman after 7-hour chase
From Yoko Wakatsuki, CNN
December 20, 2011 -- Updated 1139 GMT (1939 HKT)
A fishing boat carrying Hong Kong activists sails near Hong Kong in September 2010 for the disputed island chain in the East China Sea.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The Japanese coast guard says it chased the Chinese boat for seven hours
- Arrests of Chinese fishermen by Japan have created tensions in the past
- The boat is discovered fishing for corals near a southern Japanese island
- Nobody was hurt during the arrest, the coast guard says
Tokyo (CNN) -- The Japanese coast guard said Tuesday that it had chased down and arrested a Chinese fisherman it found in waters near southern Japanese islands, taking his boat into custody.
Encounters between Chinese fishermen and the Japanese authorities have exacerbated tensions between Japan and China in the past over territorial boundaries in the East China Sea.
The Japanese coast guard said it had chased the Chinese boat for seven hours after finding it trying to collect corals near islands off the coast of Nagasaki. The coast guard arrested the boat's captain, adding that nobody was harmed in the process.
The coast guard has beefed up its patrols since November after it arrested another Chinese boat it said was illegally fishing in the same area.
Last year, Japan arrested the crew of a Chinese sailing vessel, prompting nationalist demonstrations in both countries and a war of words at the highest levels between Tokyo and Beijing.
And in a sign of the broader maritime tensions in the region, a South Korean coast guard commando was stabbed to death and another injured last week after they boarded a Chinese fishing vessel they suspected of fishing illegally in the Yellow Sea.
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