11 October 2016•Update: 11 October 2016
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
South Korea lodged a formal complaint with China’s Seoul-based ambassador Tuesday, but it remained to be seen whether the move would appease demands for stronger action following last week’s sinking of a local Coast Guard vessel by illegal Chinese fishermen.
The South’s foreign ministry confirmed that it called in Ambassador Qiu Guohong to ask for greater Chinese cooperation in preventing a repeat of Friday’s incident when a 4.5 ton patrol boat sank after apparently being deliberately hit from behind during a crackdown on dozens of much larger unlicensed fishing vessels from China.
So far no fishermen have been held accountable for the incident, which came just days after the deaths of three Chinese crew members due to a fire as they were being raided by the South Korean Coast Guard.
Tuesday’s diplomatic move was hardly unprecedented given that Seoul’s presidential office had already declared the sinking “regrettable,” while the foreign ministry also summoned Beijing’s consul general over the weekend.
A senior Coast Guard official told reporters that his officers might return to the use of more violent force in future, particularly in light of the fatal stabbing of a colleague during a clash in 2011 and the subsequent shooting of a Chinese captain in 2014.
But local analysts have pointed to the weakening of South Korea’s defenses since the maritime police were disbanded in the wake of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster.
Just two South Korean patrol boats were left to confront 40 Chinese vessels in the South’s exclusive economic zone last Friday.
Moreover, a Chinese government spokesperson issued an implicit warning Monday urging South Korea to “deal with the incident in a cool-headed and sensible manner in terms of bilateral relations and regional stability”.
The reality is that most Chinese boats get away with fishing illegally in South Korean waters, with Coast Guard data released Tuesday indicating that the seizure rate among more than 100,000 vessels stood at just 0.04 percent last year -- down from 0.11 percent in 2012.
