AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Thu Sep 22, 2005 2:49 AM ET
China anger after Indonesian navy fires on vessel
BEIJING (AFP) - China is "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 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.
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