Sri Lankan navy arrests 37 Chinese fisherman - BBC

[Damadji]

Sri Lankan navy arrests 37 Chinese fisherman - BBC


Sri Lanka has arrested 37 Chinese fisherman on suspicion of fishing illegally off its eastern coast.

A spokesman for Sri Lanka's navy told the BBC two Sri Lankan nationals had been held along with the Chinese.

The navy says it found the men aboard two trawlers fishing in waters off the east coast town of Batticaloa.

China has called for the men to be released. The arrests are being seen as a test of increasingly close ties between Beijing and Colombo.

The fishermen were arrested on Sunday night, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

"They are in our custody and they have not been released yet," navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya told Reuters news agency on Monday, after Xinhua said the men had been freed.

A Sri Lankan police spokesman told the BBC Sinhala service the two Sri Lankans were due to appear in court on Tuesday. The fate of the Chinese remains unclear.

China's embassy in Colombo had "urged Sri Lankan authorities to handle the issue in accordance with the law, sort out the truth and release the Chinese fishermen as soon as possible", Xinhua reported earlier.

Analysts say the incident is unusual, but Chinese fishermen are increasingly travelling further afield because of a lack of fish closer to home.


BBC News - Sri Lankan navy arrests 37 Chinese fisherman

 

[neutral_person]

How did Chinese fishermen reach all the way to Sri Lanka lol

 

[Damadji]

India shares a boundary and in sea sometimes its not posible to gauge the real boundary by few meters but china is very far away.

These chinese have no right to be here.

How can they go fishing thousands of kilometers away in Sri Lankan waters.

Shame on them for stealing fish from Sri Lanka which belongs to Sri Lankan people.

 

[Fanling Monk]

COLOMBO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 37 Chinese fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan navy on Sunday night have been released, the Chinese embassy confirmed on Monday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-08/06/c_131765364.htm

Waiting for confirmation:

The two fishing boats belong to a Sri Lankan who brought them recently from a Chinese owner and probably using the Chinese fishermen to gain experiences.

 

[ephone]

It may be a mistake.

However, nowadays fishermen do go very far for fishing. I won't be surprised if they reach the african coast.

How did Chinese fishermen reach all the way to Sri Lanka lol

 

[Fanling Monk]

The 37 Chinese fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on Sunday night have been released, the Chinese embassy confirmed on Monday.

The embassy was notified by the Sri Lankan authorities that the Chinese fishermen were allowed to leave their boats, an embassy official told the Xinhua News Agency.

Earlier on Monday, a diplomat with the Chinese embassy, who asked not to be named, told the Global Times that the 37 Chinese fishermen were employed by Sri Lankan fishing boats, and had been arrested by mistake.

The Chinese fishermen, arrested together with two Sri Lankans, were aboard two fishing trawlers spotted off the eastern coast of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka on Sunday. Local fishermen reported them to the local navy as they saw the Chinese characters on the boats and thought they were Chinese illegally fishing.

The two boats carrying the Chinese character for "fishing" and serial numbers were purchased by a Sri Lankan company from Shandong Province.

"The fishermen are from Shandong Province and hired by Sri Lankans," the diplomat told the Global Times.

The China News Service (CNS) said that the Chinese fishermen were teaching local fishermen how to use the fishing tools on the trawlers. It also said the two boats might have been held for having conflicts with other fishermen while fishing and had nothing to do with the Chinese fishermen.

According to Xinhua, the two Sri Lankans who were detained along with the Chinese are under investigation.

Prior to the release of the Chinese fishermen, the Chinese embassy released a statement on Monday, saying embassy officials had spoken to the Chinese captain by phone, and urged Sri Lankan authorities to handle the issue in accordance with the law, sort out the truth and release the Chinese fishermen as soon as possible.

The embassy had also contacted the Sri Lankan shipping company, asking it to help coordinate for an early release of the Chinese fishermen.

Sri Lanka has had disputes with some neighboring countries, including India, on illegal fishing issues and have held foreign fishermen and fishing boats.

It is the first time in recent years that fishing vessels with Chinese fishermen were held by the Sri Lanka navy, according to embassy records.

Sri Lanka releases fishermen - Globaltimes.cn

 

[Skyline]

India shares a boundary and in sea sometimes its not posible to gauge the real boundary by few meters but china is very far away.

These chinese have no right to be here.

How can they go fishing thousands of kilometers away in Sri Lankan waters.

Shame on them for stealing fish from Sri Lanka which belongs to Sri Lankan people.

Sri Lanka has given permission to some Chinese ships, seems arrested trawlers haven't registered with SL.
Chinese are fishing in Indian Ocean, even closer to India! it's a not a secret.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

India shares a boundary and in sea sometimes its not posible to gauge the real boundary by few meters but china is very far away.

These chinese have no right to be here.

How can they go fishing thousands of kilometers away in Sri Lankan waters.

Shame on them for stealing fish from Sri Lanka which belongs to Sri Lankan people.

Chinese nationals arrested by Sri Lanka Navy safely in their trawlers

The 37 Chinese fishermen detained by the Sri Lankan Navy Monday are still on their trawlers and are safe, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo has said.

The Chinese Embassy has said that the fishermen work on vessels registered to Sri Lanka and the authorities are trying to determine whether they were engaged in illegal fishing.

The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said that naval personnel attached to the Eastern Naval Command Sunday night detained the Chinese fishermen along with two Sri Lankans off the coast of Batticaloa.

The Chinese fishermen were in two multi-day fishing trawlers registered with Sri Lanka's Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Sri Lanka : Chinese nationals arrested by Sri Lanka Navy safely in their trawlers - Embassy

 

[OrionHunter]

India shares a boundary and in sea sometimes its not posible to gauge the real boundary by few meters but china is very far away.

These chinese have no right to be here.

How can they go fishing thousands of kilometers away in Sri Lankan waters.

First they claim the whole of South China Sea, now the whole Indian Ocean including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Soon they'll claim the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic.

And then the Chinese would soon claim the world. You see, it's in their pre-historic maps. So better get used to it. The great Han Dynasty is on the march! Be afraid, very afraid!

 

[Lankan Ranger]

First they claim the whole of South China Sea, now the whole Indian Ocean including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Soon they'll claim the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic.

And then the Chinese would soon claim the world. You see, it's in their pre-historic maps. So better get used to it. The great Han Dynasty is on the march! Be afraid, very afraid!

The Chinese fishermen were in two multi-day fishing trawlers registered with Sri Lanka's Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, The fishermen are from Shandong Province and hired by Sri Lankans.

Sri Lankan fishermen reported them to the Sri Lankan navy as they saw the Chinese characters on the boats and thought they were Chinese illegally fishing.

 

[LiberalAtheist]

hope they weren't agonized or tortured by the SLN as they have a good history of doing that to fishermen of other countries

 

[Icecreamcart]

So in all, a mistake.

But maybe it wasn't.
Maybe those weren't Chinese-style fishing trawlers, those are Soviet-style fishing trawlers.

 

[RISING SUN]

Chinese government is claiming that they are released but srilankan navy said they haven't.

 

[samv]

India shares a boundary and in sea sometimes its not posible to gauge the real boundary by few meters but china is very far away.

These chinese have no right to be here.

How can they go fishing thousands of kilometers away in Sri Lankan waters.

Shame on them for stealing fish from Sri Lanka which belongs to Sri Lankan people.

I hope you have the same opinion of Indian fishermen who continue to poach in Sri Lankan waters time and time again.