Chinese captain dead in fishing clash in South Korea

[vietnamese_sausage]

Why does China have to do anything in this case? Let the facts present themselves. IF the Chinese captain resisted violently, then we can't be surprised that the South Koreans defended themselves. China shouldn't be held hostage by every fishing boat captain that can't or chooses not to follow instructions from armed sailors in their own EEZ. If the facts are different than what's being presented in the news, China can demand compensation and an apology.

IMO, the most telling fact is that other Chinese fishing boats sent their crews on board the one being inspected. It's like a cop pulling you over for speeding and then 3 carloads of your friends show up and get out of their cars and start surrounding the cop. Nothing good will come out of that type of scenario.

No matter what happened, not everything that happens at sea needs to turn into an International pissing contest.

ha! chinese always say this. how can the dead talk? chinese not able to handle korea yet they are looking to go against united states.

 

[Maxtini]

Chinese fishermen no enemy of S.Korea
Global Times

A Chinese fisherman was killed on Friday morning by a South Korean coast guard officer who opened fire with a pistol. According to the South Korean authorities, the Chinese fishing boat had crossed the border to fish in South Korean sea waters, and the tragedy took place when the fisherman "resisted" the coast guards' attempt to seize the boat.

Conflicts between Chinese fishermen and South Korean coast guard officers have been occurring for a long time. In 2012, a Chinese fisherman was killed by a rubber bullet fired by the South Korean coast guard. This time, it was a real bullet that killed the fisherman.

Even if the Chinese boat did cross the border as the South Korean side alleged, and the fisherman did "resist" the South Korean coast guard operation, should the officers have fired real bullets and killed him? Some people in South Korea may think that by doing this the law enforcers could look "awesome." But have they considered the feelings of the Chinese people?

Both sides must be extremely careful when firing up public sentiment against the other side.

China has never encouraged its people to fish on the South Korean side. On the contrary, the authorities have always tried to persuade the fishermen to abide by the law.

For some reason, the fishermen insist on trying their chances. The sea territory is different from that of the land, it is possible the fishermen's awareness of maritime rights and obligations is not as clear as that of the land border. However, if the South Korean authorities use force too harshly and promptly, they will have gone even further astray than the fishermen.

The Chinese government needs to further educate its fishermen to follow laws. But the South Korean coast guard should also be aware that the sea border between China and South Korea is not the same as the "38th Parallel" dividing the two Koreas. As long as the Chinese fishermen did not threaten the coast guard officers' lives, the officers should not have fired a real bullet into the fisherman's heart.

These fishermen are, at most, violators of economic laws, or might have resisted law enforcement to some degree. But the fishermen are not terrorists. They are people who make a living on the sea. They are not the enemy of South Korea.

The South Korean government should take Sino-Korean relations into account, investigate the incident and punish the officer according to the law, so as to give the Chinese people a convincing answer to the fisherman's death.

We hope this incident is only an unexpected accident, not a "standard response" for Chinese fishermen who might have crossed the border.

We also wish to see a reasonable and restrained South Korea instead of a country with rising nationalistic flames.

If you look at the satellite images, the Chinese fishermen have been very desperate to catch any fish by flocking near the South Korean EEZ where fish is still abundant. It hinted that there were no more fish near the chinese side.

I think the Chinese government should regulate the fishing industries to prevent overfishing and reduce clashes between chinese fishermen and SK coast guard.

The South Korean guard began paranoing seeing a large swath of rapacious fishermen surrounding their EEZ border. It is not about two or three boats, but thousands and maybe more!

As many fishing boats as appear in that photo, the Yellow Sea fisheries are not as healthy as they used to be. It is considered one of the most overfished areas of the world. Catches declined severely between the 1960s and 1980s (as they did in much of the world), with larger, more economically viable fish virtually disappearing from the nets and being replaced with smaller, less desirable fish, such as anchovies. Pollution from development along the coastlines has also affected the ecosystem.

 

[WuMaoCleverbot]

Chinese fishermen no enemy of S.Korea
Global Times

The South Korean government should take Sino-Korean relations into account, investigate the incident and punish the officer according to the law, so as to give the Chinese people a convincing answer to the fisherman's death.
.

What's the need for an investigation when you're already demanding punishment??? SK coast guard already guilty before a proper investigation has been done.

 

[xunzi]

does south korea ever shoot their other big brother US?

I condemn their shooting. Under no circumstance do you shoot any fisherman making a living for his family. The right thing to do is like how we do with the Vietnamese rat trying to fish near our Paracel Island, arrest, confiscate their fish, and fine. Only when the fishermen attempt to attack a coast guard do you defend yourself and shoot. Resistance is a human nature. What the SK coast guard did is just part of inexperience and settle old score.

 

[tonyget]

Many people don't know that SK has one of the strictest free speech control in the world. SK websites and forum requires citizen's ID to register, so foreigners can not speak on Korean social media.

 

[WuMaoCleverbot]

Fisherman From China Dies in Clash Off S. Korea
By CHOE SANG-HUNOCT. 10, 2014

SEOUL, South Korea — The captain of a Chinese fishing boat was killed on Friday when the South Korean Coast Guard fired shots as officers tried to impound a vessel they said was illegally fishing in South Korean waters.

A coast guard official said the captain appeared to have been struck when an officer fired warning shots from a pistol during a violent clash between South Korean officers who boarded the ship and the crews of the boat and four other vessels that joined in the fight. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because there had been no official government announcement about the cause of the captain’s death.

The fishermen were brandishing broken beer bottles and knives, according to Choi Chang-sam, the head of the Mokpo Coast Guard Station, and the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that fishermen yanked off an officer’s helmet and tried to strangle him. The four other Chinese fishing vessels surrounded the South Korean ship in an effort to stop the seizure of the vessel that was boarded, the coast guard said.

The captain who was killed was from one of those boats. (Originally, South Korean officials reported that he was the skipper of the ship that was boarded, but they later said he was not.)

Coast guard officials said fishermen on the boat the South Koreans tried to impound were fishing about 90 miles west of Wangdeung-do, an island off western South Korea.

The two countries have forged warmer relations under President Park Geun-hye of South Korea and China’s president, Xi Jinping, with their efforts overshadowing increased tensions and occasional clashes over what South Korea describes as frequent incursions by Chinese fishermen into the waters in its exclusive economic zone.

On Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, said China was “deeply shocked and dissatisfied with the violent actions that resulted in the death” of the captain. Asked if the shooting could harm relations, Mr. Hong said South Korea needed to deal with the situation in a “serious and sincere and proper” way.

Ms. Park has moved to improve ties with China, South Korea’s No. 1 trading partner. She visited China last year, and Mr. Xi made a state visit to Seoul, the South Korean capital, in July, during which he urged South Koreans to join the Chinese in historical disputes against Japan.

Bilateral relations, however, have also hit roadblocks, including over Beijing’s occasional crackdowns on North Korean refugees who flee to China on their way to South Korea. Tensions have also risen over recent discussions among South Korean and American officials about the possibility of deploying an American high-altitude missile defense system in South Korea.

Fishing rights began to become a serious issue in the past several years, with South Korea saying Chinese incursions have helped deplete fish stocks in its waters.

South Korea has stepped up patrols, and since 2011, up to 530 Chinese boats have been seized each year for illegal fishing and other violations, according to the coast guard. Most of the boats were released after the crew members were questioned and paid a fine.

When a South Korean ferry, the Sewol sank in April, killing 304 people, the coast guard said part of the reason it could not respond quickly was that so many of its ships were away for an exercise focused on illegal Chinese fishing.

Attempts to stop Chinese ships have led to violence before. In 2011, a South Korean coast guard officer was stabbed to death by a Chinese fisherman, and in 2012, a Chinese fisherman was killed by a rubber bullet fired by a South Korean officer. The South Korean Coast Guard in the past has released video of Chinese crew members wielding axes and metal pipes to stop South Korean officers from boarding.

After the clash on Friday, the Chinese ships fled, but the crew of the stricken captain asked the coast guard to take him to a hospital. The South Koreans airlifted the captain, who was 45, to a hospital in Mokpo, a city in the southwestern tip of South Korea, where he was pronounced dead.

China is locked in diplomatic battles with several neighbors, including South Korea, over maritime territory in nearby seas, but the waters where the boats were fishing Friday are not considered disputed. The disputes are fueled partly by China’s increasing appetite for natural resources, including fish.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/w...clash-with-south-korean-coast-guard.html?_r=0

I think the Chinese is at fault. Clearly, the SK coast guard officer's life is in real danger. The Chinese are armed and dangerous. The Chinese should have just followed the SK coast guard's orders and not resisted...none of these would had happened. Obeying laws saves lives.

 

[BoQ77]

The captain while saving his asset, cause harm to an officer and lose his life.
Why Chinese fishermen don't just stay in their sea and legally fishing ?

1. When they violate SK sea, they risk their asset once.
2. When they resist the order of SK CG and attack them when they on board, they risk their life, again.

 

[Zero_wing]

If you look at the satellite images, the Chinese fishermen have been very desperate to catch any fish by flocking near the South Korean EEZ where fish is still abundant. It hinted that there were no more fish near the chinese side.

I think the Chinese government should regulate the fishing industries to prevent overfishing and reduce clashes between chinese fishermen and SK coast guard.

The South Korean guard began paranoing seeing a large swath of rapacious fishermen surrounding their EEZ border. It is not about two or three boats, but thousands and maybe more!

View attachment 124879

As many fishing boats as appear in that photo, the Yellow Sea fisheries are not as healthy as they used to be. It is considered one of the most overfished areas of the world. Catches declined severely between the 1960s and 1980s (as they did in much of the world), with larger, more economically viable fish virtually disappearing from the nets and being replaced with smaller, less desirable fish, such as anchovies. Pollution from development along the coastlines has also affected the ecosystem.

Smiply the chinese imperialist dont care about other countries since they think they are bigger and more powerful than other countries they can basicly do what they want on other countries EZZ but this will come bite them in the @ss someday.

 

[Nike]

@Nihonjin1051 i can't blame the South Korean coast guard, sometimes Chinese illegal fishing vessels or i will call it robber fishing vessels is acts like barbarian. We had some cases with them, and some including casualties in our enforcement agency personnel. So sometimes our fisheries and Coastal Guard department calling our Naval warships to deal with them, and after that only the god knows what happened to those fishing vessels.

 

[Aepsilons]

@Nihonjin1051 i can't blame the South Korean coast guard, sometimes Chinese illegal fishing vessels or i will call it robber fishing vessels is acts like barbarian. We had some cases with them, and some including casualties in our enforcement agency personnel. So sometimes our fisheries and Coastal Guard department calling our Naval warships to deal with them, and after that only the god knows what happened to those fishing vessels.

Ms. @madokafc , so you're telling me that Chinese fishermen go as far south as Indonesian maritime waters to fish?

 

[AgentOrange]

ha! chinese always say this. how can the dead talk? chinese not able to handle korea yet they are looking to go against united states.

China doesn't need to "handle" Korea because this isn't an international incident. Things will be handled through diplomatic channels and that will be the end of it. Koreans aren't savages like the Vietnamese who go on murderous rampages and kill innocent factory workers.

At any rate, China can certainly "handle" Vietnam. All it takes is an unarmed oil rig and the coward Vietnamese navy goes into hiding.

 

[BoQ77]

Ms. @madokafc , so you're telling me that Chinese fishermen go as far south as Indonesian maritime waters to fish?

In SCS, we all face these illegal fishermen from China, AND, their large quantity of maritime surveillance ships; they are there to intercept Indonesia, PH, MY, Vietnam coast guard to practice the law enforcement.
That cause Indonesia coastguart cannot seize these Chinese illegal fishermen.

I believe Ms. Madokafc could confirm my words by Indonesia source.

@madokafc : agree with you. That's so ugly Chinese. But the problem is from their authorities who backup them.

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Xi's fishermen visit seen as warning to South China Sea neighbours
President's surprise visit to fishing village and pledge of support for boat crews seen by analysts as strong warning to South China Sea neighbours

• 

Xi Jinping shakes hands with fishermen in Tanmen. Photo: SCMP
President Xi Jinping made an unprecedented visit to fishermen who spend most of their working lives in disputed waters in the South China Sea in what analysts said was a move aimed at sending a strong message to China's neighbours.

Xi's visit to Tanmen, a fishing village in the city of Qionghai in Hainan, on Monday came a few days after the People's Liberation Army Navy's South Sea Fleet finished a 16-day drill and patrol mission in the South China Sea.

The PLA Daily published an interview yesterday with fleet commander Rear Admiral Jiang Weilie who said naval training on the high seas would become routine for the navy.

The visit was given wide coverage by state media outlets, including Xinhua, with Xi quoted as asking fishermen whether they felt safe going out into the South China Sea.

Our government will make more efforts to take care of you guys … and I wish you all the best when you go fishing - have good harvests and catch more big fish
"I am very impressed [after hearing your stories]. You guys have done a good job!" Xinhua quoted Xi as saying when he boarded the Qiong-Qionghai 09045. The 30-metre deep-sea fishing boat was stopped by Palau police a year ago in an illegal fishing confrontation and one fisherman was shot dead. "The [Communist] party and our government will make more efforts to take care of you guys … and I wish you all the best when you go fishing - have good harvests and catch more big fish," said Xi.

Wang Hanling , a maritime expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Xi's visit and his remarks were meant for the eyes and ears of China's neighbours that dispute its territorial claims in the South China Sea, including Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

"China's maritime interests definitely include our fishermen's fishing rights and the safety of their lives in the South China Sea," Wang said.

"Xi's visit and the PLA Navy's regular drill and patrol missions on the high seas are also an encouragement to Chinese fishermen to go to our sea territory in the South China Sea to declare our country's sovereignty by running their fishing business."

A year ago today, a dozen Tanmen fishing boats were harassed by the Philippine navy near Huangyan Island, while in April 2007, 18 Tanmen fishermen were robbed by pirates near Malaysian waters.

Xi visited the fishing village after leaving the Boao Forum for Asia, which was held just a few kilometres from Tanmen.

Naval expert Li Jie said Beijing should make the South China Sea the primary strategic focus of the country's drive to become a real maritime power.

"If the Chinese navy wants to be a true blue-water fleet, it could only make the breakthrough in the South China Sea because of its special geographic location," he said.

During the 16-day mission, crews of four South Sea Fleet warships performed a high-profile oath-taking ceremony near James Shoal, or Zengmu Reef, near the outer limits of China's controversial "nine-dash line" - which encompasses territory also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

 

[Kyle Sun]

Some of our fishermen do the illegal fishing in SK/Indo or MY, but notn in Viet or PH

 

[William Hung]

Oh man, South Koreans are just so aggressive. A few days ago, they committed a genocide against VietNam U19 football team, killing them 6-0. Now, they murder a fisherman.

Somebody has to do something about these South Koreans.

RIP to Chinese fisherman.
RIP to Vietnam U19.

 

[TaiShang]

The issue will be handled diplomatically, like between two civilized nations. If there is wrongdoing on either side, it will be solved through a due application of law.

And business as usual will continue.

13th round of China-S. Korea FTA negotiation held in Beijing

Wang Shouwen (R), Chinese assistant commerce minister, shakes hands with South Korean Assistant Commerce Minister Woo Tae-hee during the opening ceremony of the 13th round of the China-South Korea free trade agreement negotiations in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)