RI confronts China on fishing

JAKARTA. The government will issue a protest against the actions of Chinese coast guard vessels that forcibly rescued a Chinese fishing boat that had been caught by the Maritime and Fisheries Monitoring Task Force fishing illegally near Natuna Islands on Sunday.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said her office would summon Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xie Feng on Monday to demand an explanation about the violation adding that she had asked Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi to prepare a formal protest letter to be sent to Beijing.

Susi called the intervention “arrogant” and said it hampered Indonesia’s war against illegal fishing, which has seen the capture and destruction of around 120 ships that have been caught poaching in the country’s territorial waters.

“The Chinese government does not want to see its ships being sunk. Although the ship has gone, we did manage to arrest its crew for prosecution. It [China] should have not have behaved in such a way because a national government should not step in to support illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing,” Susi said in a press briefing at her official residence in South Jakarta.

The incident began on Saturday at 2 p.m. when Indonesian authorities spotted the Chinese vessel Kway Fey 10078, of 200 gross tons, at the position 05°05’866” N/109°07’646” E, within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea.

At 3 p.m., the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry patrol vessel KP HIU 011 detained the vessel along with eight crew members, on the grounds of illegal fishing using trawl nets, and escorted the ship to Natuna waters for further investigation.

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, on the way to Natuna, an armed Chinese coast guard ship collided with the towed ship in an apparent attempt to shut down its engine to prevent it being taken to Indonesian territorial waters. Soon after, another better-equipped Chinese coast guard ship arrived on the scene and ordered the Indonesian patrol vessel to release the ship within 30 minutes in order that it could be taken back to Chinese waters.

Susi said she would demand the Chinese government hand over the Kway Fey to Indonesian authorities. “We will ask the Chinese government to return the arrested ship,” Susi said.

Meanwhile, the ministry’s spokesman, Arrmanatha Nasir, said Retno had coordinated with Susi in handling the matter, adding that the ministry needed to examine further the exact position of the ship to determine what action it could take.

“If proven (that the Chinese fishing ship trespassed into Indonesian territory), we are going to take firm action and send a protest to the embassy,” he said, emphasizing that Indonesia did not have any overlapping claims with China over disputed areas in the South China Sea.

China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement sent to Reuters, said the trawler was carrying out “normal activities” in traditional Chinese fishing grounds. “On March 19, after the relevant trawler was attacked and harassed by an armed Indonesian ship, a Chinese coast guard ship went to assist,” it said.

“The Chinese side immediately demanded the Indonesian side at once release the detained Chinese fishermen and ensure their personal safety,” the ministry added. China hopes Indonesia can “appropriately handle” the issue, it said.