ISTANBUL

Japan’s prime minister on Sunday pledged firm enforcement of laws against illegal fishing after a captain of a Chinese fishing boat was detained last week.

Sanae Takaichi said on the US social media company X that Tokyo will continue to take firm enforcement action to prevent and deter illegal fishing operations by foreign fishing vessels.

On Friday, Japanese authorities released the detained captain of the vessel after China submitted documentation guaranteeing payment of a deposit.

The Japan Fisheries Agency said it seized the vessel on Thursday and detained the captain for allegedly defying an order to stop while within Japan's exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki.

It was the first time a Japanese agency seized a Chinese fishing boat in waters off southwestern Japan since 2022.

Beijing said it hopes Tokyo “will uphold the China-Japan fisheries agreement, enforce the law fairly, and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of the people concerned.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China “always” urges its fishermen to operate “in accordance with laws and regulations,” and that Beijing will firmly safeguard its “lawful rights and interests.”

Relations between China and Japan have been strained since Takaichi said in November that a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, possibly enabling the exercise of collective self-defense.

Beijing strongly criticized the comments and advised Chinese citizens against traveling to Japan, and also reinstated a ban on Japanese seafood imports.

- Japan logs diplomatic protest with China

Japan has lodged a diplomatic protest with China over remarks by Beijing, a Foreign Ministry statement said Sunday.

The statement said “a Chinese participant made inappropriate remarks regarding the security policies of the Japanese government at the Munich Security Conference on February 14.”

“Given that China’s assertions are factually incorrect and ungrounded, the Government of Japan hereby reiterates its position,” the statement said.

Saying that some countries have been “rapidly increasing their military capabilities in a non-transparent manner” and “intensifying unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion,” it added that Tokyo “opposes such moves and distances itself from them.”

“Japan’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities are in response to an increasingly severe security environment and are not directed against any specific third country. We expect that the issue surrounding Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, and this stance remains unchanged,” the statement added.

“The Government of Japan remains open to dialogue with China and intends to continue responding calmly and appropriately going forward.”

The statement came after China’s foreign minister on Saturday criticized remarks by Takaichi on Taiwan, saying the comments undermine China’s territorial sovereignty.

“This is the first time in eight years that a Japanese Prime Minister has uttered such words. It directly violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and it directly challenges the fact that Taiwan has been returned to China,” Wang said.