Indonesia calls China’s latest claim in boat incident new ballgame
Indonesia on Wednesday called China’s latest argument that its Chinese fishermen, detained by Indonesia over the weekend for allegedly operating in the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, were actually fishing in China’s traditional fishing grounds as “a new ballgame” that needs to be closely watched.
During the incident, which took place between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday, the Indonesian patrol boat intercepted the Chinese fishing vessel Kway Fey caught inside Indonesia’s EEZ and continental shelf in Natuna waters, firing warning shots to the air when the latter tried to escape.
Later, the Indonesian authorities detained eight crew members of Kway Fey.
As the Kway Fey was being towed to an island, the Chinese coast guard vessel physically intervened, hit the fishing boat to make it broken and unable to be towed and demanded it be released, according to the Indonesian side.
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