China urges ROK to treat crew safely, fairly

China has asked the Republic of Korea to guarantee the safety and rights of 24 Chinese fishermen who were detained by the ROK coast guard on Sunday, and to conduct a fair investigation into the incident.

On Monday, Xinhua News Agency quoted an official from the Chinese embassy in the ROK saying the embassy will send staff members to visit the detained Chinese citizens.

ROK authorities seized the Chinese fishing boat in Incheon and took 24 sailors into custody, Yonhap News Agency reported. The report also quoted an ROK coast guard warning that sailors who threaten officers with weapons will be dealt with more aggressively and could receive tougher punishment in future.

The Chinese fishermen were arrested on suspicion of "violently resisting the authority's crackdown on their illegal fishing in the Yellow Sea". Four officers sustained minor injuries in the clash with the fishermen, according to officials.

China and the ROK should resolve the dispute through negotiations, said Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border studies researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The fishermen's violent resistance is a reaction to the violence of the South Korean coast guard, he said.

This incident follows a string of disputes in the Yellow Sea between Chinese fishermen and ROK coast guards, and Chinese experts said the continued escalation of violence is concerning.

In October, a Chinese fisherman was killed when ROK coast guard officers fired rubber bullets as they tried to arrest him during a raid. The incident was exceptional because the coast guard had not previously used such weapons.

In May, nine Chinese fishermen were detained after a conflict with ROK fishing officials. Two of them were accused of injuring four fishing officials who had boarded their vessel.

In December 2011, Cheng Dawei, a Chinese captain, accidentally killed an ROK coast guard officer during a conflict. In mid-April, a court in Incheon City sentenced him to 30 years in prison, with a fine of 20 million won ($18,540).

qinzhongwei@chinadaily.com.cn