China angered after RI Navy fires on vessel
China angered after RI Navy fires on vessel
Agence France-Presse, Beijing
China said on Thursday it was "astonished and strongly
dissatisfied" after an Indonesian warship opened fire on a
Chinese fishing boat, killing a crewman and wounding two others.
"We have made solemn representations to the Indonesian side,
expecting it to inform us of the latest developments," an
official at the Chinese embassy in Jakarta, Yu Hongyao, told the
China Daily.
Yu said the Chinese government was "astonished and strongly
dissatisfied" with the actions of the Indonesian navy.
The incident took place on Monday when the KRI Tanjung Dalpele
came upon four boats believed to be illegally fishing in the
Arafura Sea between Indonesia's Papua and Maluku provinces, the
Indonesian navy said.
Three of the ships fled. The navy vessel hailed the fourth
one, MV FuYuan 123, which was flying the Chinese flag, the navy
said.
Captain Melis from the Indonesian Eastern Fleet Navy
information office in Surabaya, East Java, said standard
procedures were followed.
He said that after the boat ignored calls to halt, three shots
were fired into the air before the gun was fired at the side of
the Chinese vessel, which suddenly veered as if trying to collide
with the warship.
The China Daily said 13 shots were fired.
The damaged ship and its remaining 13 crew members are in
detention at a naval base in Merauke on the southeastern coast of
easternmost Papua province.
"We're informed that the health of the detained crew members
is OK, and we have asked the Indonesian side to treat them
humanely," Yu was quoted as saying.
Eastern Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Didik Heru Purnomo said
the Chinese ship was guilty of multiple violations, Indonesia's
state Antara news agency reported.
The ship was operating an outlawed type of trawl with an
expired fishing permit and an incomplete seamens' book, he said.
The name of the captain was different from that in the ship's
official documents, he added.
The navy first hailed the Chinese ship Monday at 8:21 am and
it was not hit by gunfire until more than five hours later at
1:42 pm, Purnomo said.
"Seen from the process leading up to the shot that caused the
death of the crew member, it took a quite a long time. All the
procedures had been followed," Purnomo said.
The Indonesian navy has been seeking to crack down on illegal
foreign fishermen.