|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
. | ![]() |
. |
|
![]() |
![]() by Staff Writers Tokyo (AFP) Oct 27, 2014
Japan's coastguard said it arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain Monday on suspicion of coral poaching after a high seas chase in the country's exclusive economic zone. The boat, the Zheling Yuyun 622, fled after ignoring an order by a Japanese patrol ship to land off one of the Ogasawara islands, some 1,000 kilometres (630 miles) south of Tokyo, according to Japan's coastguard. After a 12-kilometre, 85-minute "zigzag" chase, Japanese coastguard officials boarded the fishing boat and arrested its 31-year-old captain Zeng Yong, a coastguard statement said. The ship's dozen-member crew was suspected of poaching corals, after about 100 Chinese boats were seen the area on Sunday, it added. Zeng was held on charges of attempting to refuse an on-board inspection by Japan's coastguard. If convicted, he could be jailed for up to six months or fined up to 300,000 yen ($2,770) under the country's fishery law. Japanese media reports said there has been a swell in the number of Chinese fishing boats suspected of hunting red corals -- highly prized in China as jewelry -- since last month in waters off the Ogasawaras, also known as the Bonin islands. Zeng was the fourth Chinese fishing boat captain arrested near the islands this month, a Yokohama Coast Guard official said. "We are in the process of investigating whether the captain was catching (corals) or not," he added. The Japanese coastguard tends to chase off Chinese crews hunting corals in the area and the incidents rarely cause major friction between Tokyo and Beijing, although the countries are at loggerheads over an island chain in the East China Sea. Earlier this month, the South Korean coastguard shot and killed the Chinese skipper of a fishing boat in a confrontation in the Yellow Sea, triggering an angry protest from Beijing.
Related Links Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
|
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |