The issue of relations with China crystallized in September, when the Japanese Coast Guard arrested the captain of a Chinese trawler after his ship hit two Japanese patrol boats near the Senkaku Islands, which are part of Japan and within its territorial waters. Tension between Japan and China – which claims the islands – immediately soared.
而日本的对中关系问题也在9月被激化，当时一位中国船长驾驶渔船与两艘日本巡逻船在尖阁诸岛（即钓鱼岛）附近洋面发生碰撞，该岛属于日本领海范围以内的领土，因此日本海岸警卫队逮捕了该名船长。事件发生之后，日本与同样宣称对该岛拥有主权的中国之间的紧张局势当即升温。