China makes no big fuss over death of fisherman

Chinese fishermen, in the left photo, are escorted off their trawler by the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) at Mokpo Port, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday, after they were taken into custody for illegal fishing and mounting violent resistance during an attempted boarding. The right photo shows knives and blunt tools wrapped in plastic, which the fishermen used against the coastguard officers. (Photo : Yonhap)

Envoy’s protest visit cancelled

Beijing is apparently refraining from engaging in a diplomatic spat with Seoul over the death of a Chinese fisherman on a boat illegally fishing in South Korea’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Sea.

Zhang Xinsen, the Chinese Ambassador to Korea, had earlier planned to visit the foreign ministry in Seoul Wednesday to protest over the incident.

However, the plan was canceled late afternoon upon the request from the Chinese side.

The 44-year-old fisherman surnamed Zhang died Tuesday after being hit by a rubber bullet fired by a South Korean coastguard officer during a boarding attempt.

An editorial from Huanqiu, a Chinese state-run newspaper, published Wednesday wrote the incident “should not become a source of friction with Seoul” and called for a “cool-headed approach.”

The incident was covered by most of the Chinese mainstream media but was considerably toned down.

China’s foreign ministry did not release any official statement regarding the issue.

“It was unusual to see the editorial from a state-run newspaper published the next morning after the incident took place,” said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) official, Wednesday. “On top of that, I don’t think the incident is even a matter of diplomacy. It was an accident.”

After being informed about the news on Tuesday evening, China’s foreign ministry expressed “regret” to the Korean embassy in Beijing calling for a thorough investigation into the incident, according to MOFAT.

The official also said Chinese embassy in Seoul filed a “complaint” but it was an unofficial delivery.

Regarding the incident, Hong Lei, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a regular briefing Wednesday, “We request South Korea to stop inappropriate enforcement of law and prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”

Asked about its measures to curtail illegal fishing, Hong said “the Chinese government is strengthening the education and supervision of our fishermen so that they will conduct legal fishing.”

The Seoul government earlier expressed deep regret about the tragedy and offered condolences to the bereaved family members. However, it does not plan to accept any kind of official protest from Beijing as the incident is mainly attributable to the sailor’s illegal activity in South Korea’s EEZ and that the Korean Coast Guard’s (KCG) action was legal in line with the operational instruction.

According to the KCG, the Chinese fishermen including Zhang fought back fiercely with knives and other sharp implements.

Experts say Beijing aims to avoid a hostile relationship with Seoul as it is currently locked in a territorial row with Japan over a group of islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China.

Illegal fishing by Chinese fishing boats has been a thorn in the side of the Korean-Sino relationship.

To tackle the issue, President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese President Hu Jiantao agreed to hold regular working-level talks to find an amicable settlement in January.

In its first meeting held in June, the two sides agreed to form a joint consultation body on illegal fishing but have yet to come up with specific plans.

“Since the death of a coastguard officer last December, we constantly requested the Chinese government to keep control of the illegal fishing boats,” said the official. “I believe the Chinese government is trying to seize them. But many are out of their control due to rising number in the West Sea.”

The KCG officer was stabbed to death by a Chinese fishing boat captain. Consequently, the captain was sentenced to 30 years in prison and fined 20 million won.

In December 2010, a Chinese boat rammed a KCG vessel costing the life of a Chinese fisherman.

According to the foreign ministry, over 2,000 Chinese vessels were seized for illegally fishing in the South Korea’s EZZ between January 2008 and August this year. <The Korea Times/Chung Min-uck>

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