Japan says arrests China boat captain for illegal fishing

TOKYO Dec 20 (Reuters) - Japan's coastguard said on Tuesday it had arrested the captain of a Chinese fishing boat operating illegally in Japanese waters, though China's response to the incident has so far been muted.

Ties between the two countries deteriorated sharply last year following the detention of the captain of a Chinese trawler that collided with Japanese patrol boats near disputed islets in the East China Sea.

The latest arrest also comes as Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is scheduled to visit Beijing for a bilateral summit on Dec 25-26.

Japan's coastguard said it seized early on Tuesday a 130-ton Chinese boat about 87 kilometres from an island off Nagasaki Prefecture in southern Japan, and arrested the captain, Zhong Jinyin, 39.

The boat, with the captain and 10 sailors on board, tried to flee when it was found operating near the island late on Monday evening, ignoring a Japanese patrol boat's order to stop, the coastguard said.

It was captured at around 5 a.m. (2000 GMT Monday) after over six hours. There have been no reports of injury.

Li Wenliang, China's consul general in Nagasaki told China's Xinhua news agency that he had urged the Japanese authorities to ensure the safety of the Chinese fishermen and make sure their legal rights are protected.

Chinese fishing boats are frequently caught fishing in South Korean waters, sometimes leading to violent clashes with South Korean maritime police.

Last week, a South Korean coastguard was stabbed to death by a Chinese fisherman in an operation to apprehend a Chinese vessel operating illegally near South Korean waters, fuelling anger among Koreans. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Joseph Radford)