China in protest at jailing of fishing boat skipper
By Wang Qingchu |
April 20, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
China has protested a ruling by a South Korean court which sent a Chinese skipper to prison for 30 years on charges of stabbing a South Korean coast guard officer to death last December.
The court in Incheon also fined Cheng Dawei 20 million won (US$17,560).
Eight of his crew were jailed from 1.5 to 2 years for "interfering with public administration."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a news conference in Beijing that China rejected the sentence. He said China urged South Korea to properly handle the case and called on Seoul to respect the legitimate rights of Chinese fishermen.
The incident occurred after South Korean officers boarded a Chinese boat suspected of illegal fishing in a so-called Exclusive Economic Zone of South Korea in the Yellow Sea.
Liu said China and South Korea had not delimited the border of the zone.
China will continue to closely monitor the case and provide necessary assistance to the Chinese citizens involved in order to safeguard their legitimate and lawful rights, he said.
The South Korean court was told that Cheng had attacked coast guards after they stopped his boat on December 12.
The captain stabbed them with pieces of broken glass during a fight, South Korean coast guard witnesses said. One officer was taken to hospital by helicopter but later died. Another was injured.
Prosecutors had called for the death penalty, accusing Cheng of committing a murder "after careful planning" and not compensating the victim's family.
Cheng said he had killed the officer by accident in self-defense and an offer of compensation to the victim's family had been rejected, Chengdu Business News reported.
One of the fishermen, Yang Shikai, told the court that they had defended themselves after coast guards boarded the boat and beat them up.
He said South Korean officers had hit Cheng on the head and then tried to break into the captain's room. Cheng had grabbed a knife and warned them not to come in. But they forced their way in and that was when Cheng accidentally injured the two officers, Yang said.
Cheng's wife, Gao Lijie, is said to have offered 420,000 yuan (US$66,627) to the victim's family but the offer was rejected. The money was still in the possession of Cheng's lawyer, Gao told the newspaper.
She said she and her son wrote letters of apology to the victim's family and had begged for their forgiveness.
The incident was the first deadly clash between the South Korean coast guard and Chinese fishermen in three years.
"China usually dispatches maritime and fishery authorities to seize illegal South Korean fishing boats. But in South Korea it is military troops who carry out the duty. Their violent means often intensify conflicts," Li Guoqiang, a researcher with Chinese Academy of Sciences, told China National Radio.
Chinese fishermen who fish in the open sea are frequently investigated and stopped by armed South Korean troops. Once their boats are seized they have to pay hefty penalties and their families can be brought to financial ruin due to the fines involved, the radio station said.
Li said the two countries had signed a Sino-South Korea Fishing Agreement in June 2001 to decide respective areas for fishing.
Although the agreement outlined fishing areas and quotas, fishermen from both countries sometimes entered each other's areas to feed a growing demand for seafood, Li said.
The court in Incheon also fined Cheng Dawei 20 million won (US$17,560).
Eight of his crew were jailed from 1.5 to 2 years for "interfering with public administration."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a news conference in Beijing that China rejected the sentence. He said China urged South Korea to properly handle the case and called on Seoul to respect the legitimate rights of Chinese fishermen.
The incident occurred after South Korean officers boarded a Chinese boat suspected of illegal fishing in a so-called Exclusive Economic Zone of South Korea in the Yellow Sea.
Liu said China and South Korea had not delimited the border of the zone.
China will continue to closely monitor the case and provide necessary assistance to the Chinese citizens involved in order to safeguard their legitimate and lawful rights, he said.
The South Korean court was told that Cheng had attacked coast guards after they stopped his boat on December 12.
The captain stabbed them with pieces of broken glass during a fight, South Korean coast guard witnesses said. One officer was taken to hospital by helicopter but later died. Another was injured.
Prosecutors had called for the death penalty, accusing Cheng of committing a murder "after careful planning" and not compensating the victim's family.
Cheng said he had killed the officer by accident in self-defense and an offer of compensation to the victim's family had been rejected, Chengdu Business News reported.
One of the fishermen, Yang Shikai, told the court that they had defended themselves after coast guards boarded the boat and beat them up.
He said South Korean officers had hit Cheng on the head and then tried to break into the captain's room. Cheng had grabbed a knife and warned them not to come in. But they forced their way in and that was when Cheng accidentally injured the two officers, Yang said.
Cheng's wife, Gao Lijie, is said to have offered 420,000 yuan (US$66,627) to the victim's family but the offer was rejected. The money was still in the possession of Cheng's lawyer, Gao told the newspaper.
She said she and her son wrote letters of apology to the victim's family and had begged for their forgiveness.
The incident was the first deadly clash between the South Korean coast guard and Chinese fishermen in three years.
"China usually dispatches maritime and fishery authorities to seize illegal South Korean fishing boats. But in South Korea it is military troops who carry out the duty. Their violent means often intensify conflicts," Li Guoqiang, a researcher with Chinese Academy of Sciences, told China National Radio.
Chinese fishermen who fish in the open sea are frequently investigated and stopped by armed South Korean troops. Once their boats are seized they have to pay hefty penalties and their families can be brought to financial ruin due to the fines involved, the radio station said.
Li said the two countries had signed a Sino-South Korea Fishing Agreement in June 2001 to decide respective areas for fishing.
Although the agreement outlined fishing areas and quotas, fishermen from both countries sometimes entered each other's areas to feed a growing demand for seafood, Li said.
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