• Japan Warns China Coral Poachers - TOKO SEKIGUCHI

Japan Warns China Coral Poachers
Coast Guard Says ”Far From Average” 

Number of Arrests Recently
By TOKO SEKIGUCHI

A coast guard vessel approaches a suspected Chinese coral poaching ship off the coast of Japan's Ogasawara islands.

TOKYO—Top Japanese officials on Tuesday warned coral poachers to stay out of the country’s territorial waters after arresting six Chinese nationals suspected of hunting illegally for precious red corals in recent weeks.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Tuesday that a large fleet of Chinese ships have been spotted since mid-September—a total of over 200 ships at the end of October in or near Japanese waters. 

Mr. Kishida requested an “appropriate and effective response” from Beijing, adding that “China has expressed its awareness of the gravity of the matter.”

The deep-red Japanese corals are highly prized in China where they are worn as jewelry, and can fetch as much as ¥180,000 ($1,578) per gram, according to the Mainichi Shimbun daily.
The cat-and-mouse chase between Chinese fishermen and Japanese coast guard officials comes at a precarious time, as the leaders of Asia’s two largest economies prepare to hold their first one-on-one session on the sidelines of a regional summit meeting in Beijing starting Monday.

According to the Yokohama Coast Guard Office that oversees waters around the Pacific Ogasawara islands about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, five Chinese boat captains have been arrested on the suspicion of violating fishing laws in October on separate occasions in either Japan’s territorial waters or an exclusive economic zone in the area. 

Another Chinese skipper was arrested on Oct. 17 in an EEZ off Ishigaki, one of Japan’s southernmost islands near a group of islands contested by both Japan and China.
All but one have been released after paying—or promising to pay—an undisclosed penalty fee.

Beijing doesn’t make sovereignty claims over the waters where poachers have been arrested. 

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying asked Japan on Monday to “deal with relevant issues in a civil, sensible, law-abiding, just and proper way.” 

She also asked the Chinese fishermen “to carry out production and operation at sea in accordance with the law.”
While the coast guard couldn’t provide the rundown of arrests involving illegal fishing by foreign vessels, a spokesman said the number of arrests last month is “far from the average.” 

For example, in 2013, there were a total of 11 such arrests nationwide, three of which involved Chinese nationals.
The approach of a supertyphoon has set off worries among local Japanese islanders that illegal Chinese boats may be forced to take refuge in their small fishing communities, prompting Akihiro Ohta, land and transport minister, to offer them assurance.

Should the boats stop to weather the storm, “I’d like to make it a basic policy that (Japan) carry out on-site inspections and prohibit landing,” Mr. Ohta said.

Defense Minister Akinori Eto said at a news conference that while the coast guard and the police are fundamentally in charge of responding, the deployment of Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s military, will be a “topic to be considered if it becomes necessary.”

While the growing trouble with the coral poachers hasn’t become a source of serious bilateral contention, it has given officials from Tokyo and Beijing a headache as they scramble to realize the first-ever face-to-face meeting between Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe and Xi Jinping. 

Japanese officials hope such a meeting will take place as Mr. Abe visits Beijing for the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation starting Monday.