From 1891 to 1892, Arichi served as commander in chief of the Readiness Fleet. He was promoted to vice admiral in 1892. During the First Sino-Japanese War, he was initially commander in chief of Kure Naval District, and became commander in chief of the Combined Fleet from May to October 1895, overseeing in the Japanese invasion of Taiwan. During this campaign, the captain of the cruiser provoked a diplomatic incident with the United Kingdom when he stopped and boarded the British-flagged merchant ship "SS Thales" in international waters off of Amoy on the morning of 21 October 1895 in search of Liu Yongfu, the fugitive president of the Republic of Formosa. Due to the diplomatic protest over the violation of British neutrality, the Japanese government was forced to issue an official apology and forced Arichi into retirement.