(BGF) – The Philippine showed its firm position when its Maritime police detained 11 Chinese fishermen and their boat off Hasa-Hasa Shoal, found nearly 400 live sea turtles on May 7.
The seizure angered China as it claimed it has the sovereignty over the Ban Yue Reef, the Chinese name for Hasa-Hasa Shoal. China also demanded to release the vessel and crew, and urged the Philippines ” to stop taking further provocative action”, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Click here to read the full story or visit the Inquirer website.
Philippines nabs 11 Chinese poachers
May 8, 2014 | By Marlon Ramos, Tarra Quismundo
Hundreds of turtles was found in the Chinese vessel arrested by Philippine maritime police on Tuesday for poaching in the West Philippine Sea. (Photo Credit: The Inquirer).
MANILA, Philippines—Philippine maritime police seized a Chinese fishing vessel found carrying sea turtles off Hasa-Hasa Shoal (Half Moon Shoal) in disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday, in the latest escalation of the increasingly bitter territorial dispute between Manila and Beijing.
The seizure of the Chinese vessel angered China, which demanded the release of the boat and its crew. China claims the shoal is part of its territory.
But the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the arrest of the Chinese fishermen was an exercise of the Philippines’ sovereignty over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippine National Police Maritime Group detained the 11-member crew of the 15-ton Chinese vessel after finding nearly 400 live sea turtles aboard the boat, Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP spokesman, said on Wednesday.
Five Filipino fishermen were also arrested in the area after maritime police found 70 live sea turtles on their boat, Sindac said.
Chief Supt. Noel Lazarus Vargas, PNP Maritime Group director, said the maritime policemen were responding to a report about the presence of unidentified Filipino fishermen near Hasa-Hasa Shoal off Balabac town, Palawan province, on Tuesday morning when they chanced upon the Chinese vessel.
“We just responded to the report of the locals. It is still unclear how the foreign vessel was [intercepted],” Vargas said.
Click here to continue reading.