Beijing expressed concern on Thursday after Indonesia destroyed 41 impounded foreign vessels including a Chinese boat, as the world’s biggest archipelago nation ramps up efforts to stop illegal fishing in its waters.
Indonesia sank the empty fishing vessels at several sites on Wednesday, local media reported, including a large Chinese ship detained in 2009 for fishing in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
Boats from Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines that had been caught fishing illegally in Indonesian waters were also sunk, with some blown up using dynamite.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo launched the campaign to clamp down on illegal fishing soon after taking office in October last year and several foreign trawlers had already been sunk, but it was the first time a Chinese boat was targeted.
Jakarta had been accused in the past of turning a blind eye to illegal Chinese fishing activities in Indonesian waters, not wanting to anger its vastly more powerful trading partner.
However, Beijing was unhappy at the move.
“China is gravely concerned about relevant reports, and is asking the Indonesian side to make clarifications,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) told reporters. “We hope that the Indonesian side can press ahead with fishery cooperation in a constructive manner and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
Indonesia does not have overlapping territorial claims with Beijing in the hotly contested South China Sea, home to vital shipping lanes and believed to be rich in oil and gas, unlike several other Asian nations.
However, Jakarta has objected to China’s “nine-dash line” — the demarcation Beijing uses on maps to demonstrate its claim to almost the whole of the sea — as it overlaps with Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone around Natuna, a string of islands rich in fishing stocks on the far northwest fringe of the archipelago.
Indonesia has defended its policy of seizing and destroying illegal fishing boats, and Indonesian Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti told the Jakarta Post newspaper that sinking vessels was for “the welfare of our fishermen.”
Widodo has said illegal fishing costs Southeast Asia’s biggest economy billions of dollars in lost revenue every year. He hopes that increased earnings from fishing can boost economic growth, which has sunk to a five-year low.
Authorities also say foreigners illegally fishing in Indonesia are partly responsible for massive damage to the environment, due to the widespread use of explosives and cyanide.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS