Japan arrests Chinese fishing boat captain

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TOKYO, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Japanese coast guard officers arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain they said was illegally fishing in waters Japan claims it controls.

The vessel's skipper told Japanese officials he is Chinese, and Japanese officials said he tried to evade capture when Japanese cutters approached it. Eventually, coast guard officers were able to board the boat, 28 miles east northeast of Mikayo -- one of a series of uninhabited islets at the center of a fierce territorial dispute between Japan and China in the East China Sea.

The last time Japan arrested a Chinese fisherman in the area was in September 2010, and the incident significantly increased tensions between the two nations, the Kyodo News said Sunday.