Reuters
A Philippine court on Monday fined nine Chinese fishermen $102,000 each after they were caught with hundreds of sea turtles in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea amid a festering territorial standoff between the two sides.
China claims almost all of the entire South China Sea, believed to be rich with minerals and oil-and-gas deposits and one of Asia's biggest possible flashpoints. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam also have claims.
Philippine police arrested the fishermen and seized their boat off Half Moon Shoal, a disputed territory in the Spratly Islands within the Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone, in May. Two of the fishermen were sent home because they were minors.
After three months of trial, Judge Ambrosio de Luna found the fishermen guilty of poaching in Philippine waters and of illegal possession of endangered green sea turtles. It was not immediately clear how the fishermen would find the funds to pay the fines, but they face six months' jail if they fail to pay up, time already served, suggesting they could even be released.
"We're merely imposing our laws," Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters.
"We tried to look for ways to be lenient. I think they will credit whatever time has been served already."
China protested against the arrests and does not recognise the trial, saying the nine were detained in China's territorial waters.
IHS Jane's, a leading defence publication, said on Friday satellite images show China is building an island on a reef elsewhere in the Spratlys large enough to accommodate what could be its first offshore airstrip in the South China Sea.
Del Rosario said the military had been asked to investigate.
The building work, if confirmed, would fly in the face of U.S. calls for a freeze in provocative activity in the South China Sea, one of Asia's biggest security issues.
Concern is growing about an escalation in disputes even as claimants work to establish a code of conduct to resolve them.
Two Vietnamese frigates were due to arrive in the Philippines on Monday on a goodwill visit, the first time Hanoi has sent warships to the archipelago.
Chinese skipper arrested for poaching coral brought to Yokohama
AFP
A coast guard vessel approaches a Chinese coral poaching ship off the coast of Japan's Ogasawara islands.
YOKOHAMA — The skipper of a Chinese boat, who was arrested by the Japan Coast Guard on Sunday on suspicion of poaching coral, was handed over to authorities in Yokohama on Monday afternoon.
Xie Huawen was the captain of a vessel suspected of operating in Japanese territorial waters in the Ogasawara chain of islands illegally since Friday.
On Sunday, the vessel fled after ignoring an order by a Japan Coast Guard ship to land off one of the Ogasawara islands, TBS reported. After a five-hour chase, the coast guard caught up with the Chinese vessel. Xie is the ninth Chinese fishing boat captain to be arrested for suspected coral poaching, the coast guard said.
Japan says there has been a swell in the number of Chinese fishing boats suspected of hunting red coral—highly prized in China as jewelry—since last month.
No comments:
Post a Comment