BEIJING — Two violent clashes in recent days involving Chinese fishermen at work off the Korean peninsula have threatened to roil the diplomatic waters between Beijing and two Asian neighbors, experts say.
South Korean maritime officials have detained 11 Chinese suspected of clubbing to death a coast guard officer last week as he tried to board their fishing vessel, suspected of illegally plying Korean territorial waters.
A North Korean patrol boat fired on another Chinese fishing boat Saturday, wounding the vessel’s captain.
Seoul officials have long complained of illegal Chinese intrusion into the fish-rich waters off the peninsula. Despite a fisheries treaty with Beijing signed in 2001, South Korea in the past four years has captured more than 1,750 Chinese fishing vessels that allegedly violated the pact.
The death last week of the 48 year-old coast guard officer has renewed calls in the South Korean media for tougher sanctions against Beijing and stronger action against Chinese fishermen caught in Korean waters.
With China in the middle of an autumn holiday, domestic news agencies did not carry stories of either incident. Chinese officials in Seoul declined comment. But Chinese blogs carried news of the shelling by the North Korean patrol boat.
Analysts say China wants to avoid the impression that its fishermen believe they can fish anywhere.
“There is still an undercurrent of suspicion in South Korea toward China despite the China craze that has otherwise gripped the country over the last five years,” said Adam Segal of the Council on Foreign Relations.
