China, criticized for bullying and driving away the fishing vessels from the Philippines and Vietnam when the boats stray into the disputed islands in South China Sea, just got a taste of its own medicine.
Modern Tribune reported that a Chinese trawler, the Li Yan Yuan, was sunken on Monday by the Argentinean Coast Guard for entering and illegally fishing on territorial waters. The coast guard shot the trawler after the Li Yan Yuan repeatedly attempted to force a collision with the Argentinean vessel while escaping to international waters.
In a statement, the Coast Guard said, “On several occasions, the offending ship performed maneuvers designed to force a collision with the coastguard, putting at risk not only its own crew but the coastguard personnel, who were then ordered to shoot parts of the vessel,” quoted Sofmag.
The vessel sunk, but the coast guard rescued four Chinese sailors, while other nearby Chinese trawlers pulled out of the waters 28 other fishermen.
Following the incident, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and embassy in Argentina filed a complaint. Beijing sought a thorough probe of the shooting and asked Buenos Aires for an update on the condition of the Chinese fishermen and to safeguard them, said Lu Kang, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry.
Lu said, “China urged the Argentine side to take effective measures to prevent such incident from happening again.”
The coast guard usually chases drug syndicates and gun runners. It also rescues vessels with problems, but run-ins with foreign trawlers, like what happened, are rare occasions for the Argentine Naval Prefecture.