Boat detention ‘angers’ China
Carter criticized
JAKARTA, May 30, (Agencies): Beijing insisted Monday a Chinese boat detained close to Indonesian islands had been fishing legally, in a fresh flare-up of tensions between the countries in the South China Sea.
The Indonesian navy seized the Chinese boat in waters near the Natuna Islands on Friday for allegedly fishing illegally, the military said.
The boat was towed to shore and eight Chinese crew members have been detained.
Jakarta and Beijing have clashed before over the islands on the southwestern fringe of the disputed South China Sea, where China is also at loggerheads with several other countries because of its overlapping claims.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying insisted the detained vessel had been operating legally.
“The Chinese fishermen were conducting normal fishing operations in the relevant waters,” she told a press briefing.
Concerning
“We have made stern representations with Indonesia concerning this matter.”
Achmad Taufiqoerrochman, the commander of Indonesia’s Western Fleet, said the vessel — the Gui Bei Yu — was “strongly suspected” of having carried out illegal fishing because of the catch that was found onboard.
The military said the boat was detained in Indonesia’s “exclusive economic zone”, waters where a state has sole rights to exploit resources.
The boat’s detention shows Indonesia “will enforce the law against boats that commit violations in Indonesia’s jurisdiction”, it added.
The most serious recent row between Jakarta and Beijing happened in March when Chinese coastguards rammed a Chinese boat detained near the Natunas and helped it escape as the Indonesians towed the vessel to shore.
Jakarta responded furiously, lodging a protest and summoning China’s top envoy in Indonesia.
Indonesia does not have overlapping territorial claims in the sea with China, unlike other nations, but it objects to Beijing’s claims as they overlap with the exclusive economic zone around the Natunas.
Tough
An increasing number of foreign trawlers have been detained in Indonesian waters after Jakarta in 2014 launched a tough crackdown on illegal fishing.
The clampdown involves sinking foreign boats caught fishing without a permit after impounding the boats and removing the crews.
China on Monday lashed out at criticism from US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, accusing him of harboring a Cold War mentality and saying Beijing has no interest in “playing a role in a Hollywood movie” of Washington’s design.
Hua told reporters Carter’s comment last week that China was creating a “Great Wall of selfisolation” was merely an attempt to provide cover for US plans to deploy additional military forces to the Asia-Pacific region.
Carter’s remarks “laid bare the stereotypical US thinking and US hegemony,” Hua said at a daily news briefing.
“Indeed, there are some in the US who live physically in the 21st century, but whose minds are stuck in the in the Cold War era,” she said.
“China has no interest in any form of Cold War, nor are we interested in playing a role in a Hollywood movie written and directed by certain US military officials. However, China has no fear of and will counter any actions that threaten and undermine China’s sovereignty and security,” Hua said.
In a commencement speech Friday at the US Naval Academy, Carter said China wants and enjoys the benefits of free trade and a free internet, but sometimes chooses to restrict both. He said the US also continues to be concerned about Beijing’s actions in the disputed South China Sea, where Beijing has sought to strengthen its claim to almost the entire region by building new islands atop coral outcroppings and adding airstrips, harbors and military infrastructure.
The United States is committed to upholding the freedom of navigation and commerce, and peaceful resolution of disputes, Carter said.
“China’s actions (in the South China Sea) challenge fundamental principles, and we can’t look the other way,” Carter said.