people for such a potential eventuality.
begin quote from:
| http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/asia/south-korea-china-intl/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial |
South Korean coast guard fires 250 rounds at Chinese fishing ships
A South Korean coast guard ship fires warning shots across the bow of a Chinese fishing vessel on Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
(CNN)South
Korea's coast guard said it fired almost 250 rounds of ammunition from a
machine gun and other weapons during a confrontation with dozens of
Chinese fishing vessels Tuesday.
More
than 40 Chinese ships crossed into South Korean waters near Gageodo
Island, off the country's southwest coast, the coast guard said. They
were intercepted and ordered to leave.
Coast
guard ships fired "warning shots at the bows of the Chinese ships,"
including 180 rounds from an M-60 machine gun, and almost 70 rounds from
assault rifles and shotguns, the South Korean coast guard said in a
statement.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Wednesday expressed Beijing's "serious concern" over the incident.
"China
has always attached great importance to the management of overseas
fisheries and have actively taken effective measures in relevant waters
to maintain fishery production order," she said.
"We
hope the South Korean side will handle the relevant issue properly,
avoid taking excessive actions that could jeopardize lives during law
enforcement, earnestly ensure the safety and legitimate rights of
Chinese fishermen, and strengthen communication with the Chinese side."
In the statement Wednesday, the South Korean coast guard said the Chinese ships attempted to rush coast guard vessels.
"Chinese
ships equipped with steel bars and wire mesh ignored the eviction
warning broadcasts from (the coast guard) and rushed towards the patrol
boat," the statement said.
A video of the incident showed a machine gun being fired across the bow of a ship heading toward a coast guard ship.
Long-running dispute
Under
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which
both China and South Korea are parties, coastal states can claim an
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) up to 200 nautical miles from their
coastline.
This creates overlapping claims in the seas between the Korean Peninsula and China, and the two countries signed a bilateral fishing agreement in 2001.
According
to the South Korean coast guard, the Chinese ships were one nautical
mile within the fisheries agreement line, and were ordered to retreat
back to international waters.
South Korea has reacted forcefully in the past when fishing ships have crossed the line. According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), the coast guard first used machine gun fire to scare away ships in November 2016.
Writing
for AMTI, Korea analyst Lisa Collins said Chinese fishermen "take
advantage of the standoff between North and South Korea to fish
illegally" near the boundary line between the two countries.
"The
potential for third-party interference by North Korea in these
disputes, or the use of North Korean waters by Chinese fishermen to
evade capture, adds a complex dimension to an already intractable
problem," she said.
Three Chinese fishermen were reportedly killed in September when a flash grenade thrown by a coast guard officer sparked a fire in a room crew were hiding in.
In
its statement, the Korean Coastguard cited Article 17 of the country's
Maritime Security Act which says "if a ship or any other person uses a
dangerous object such as a hull, weapon, or other items to attack or
attempt to attack coast guards, weapons can be used."
Coast
guard official Lee Sang-In said they would continue to deploy large
numbers of vessels and officers "against illegal Chinese ships."
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