Japanese authorities seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said Friday, in a move likely to further heighten tensions with Beijing.

The episode on Thursday off southern Japan came three months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.

"The vessel's captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled," Japan's fisheries agency said.