Red coral jewellery and ornaments are popular among wealthy Chinese, with the price per gram having more than quadrupled over the past five years. Photograph: Alamy

A cluster of Japanese islands has become a potential flashpoint in already tense relations between Japan and China after Tokyo urged Beijing to crack down on a rise in illegal coral poaching by Chinese fishermen.

The demand came as Japanese officials warned that Chinese poachers currently in the area would not be allowed to take refuge on the Ogasawara islands, located about 600 miles south of Tokyo, from a powerful typhoon expected to arrive later on Thursday.

Japan has boosted its coastguard and police presence near the islands after observing a dramatic rise in the number of poachers searching for red coral in its exclusive economic zone.

Chinese boats traditionally poached coral in the East China Sea and near the Japanese island of Okinawa, but are thought to have moved to the Ogasawara chain to escape beefed up security and to take advantage of calmer waters.

Jewellery and ornaments made from the coral are popular among wealthy Chinese, with the price per gram having more than quadrupled over the past five years, according to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

More than 200 Chinese fishing boats have been spotted in waters off the Ogasawara and Izu island chains in recent days, prompting calls for Tokyo to put more pressure on Beijing.

Members of the ruling Liberal Democratic party adopted a resolution this week calling on the government to lodge the strongest possible protest, adding that they were outraged by the barbaric act of pulling out coral by the roots.

The standoff will only add to tensions between the two countries as their leaders struggle to set up their first-ever bilateral meeting at next weeks Apec summit in Beijing.

The Kyodo news agency quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the prospects were dimming for an official summit between Japans prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, although the two may hold informal talks lasting 10-15 minutes.

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Japan-China relations strained over illegal coral poaching