Trial of Chinese Fishermen in the Philippines
The Philippines’ National Police Special Boat Unit seized this boat, which they say was manned by Chinese poachers that were catching endangered turtles in Filipino territorial waters, Palawan, Philippines, Sept. 3, 2014. (Jason Strother/VOA)
The Philippines’ National Police Special Boat Unit seized this boat, which they say was manned by Chinese poachers that were catching endangered turtles in Filipino territorial waters, Palawan, Philippines, Sept. 3, 2014. (Jason Strother/VOA)
September 03, 2014
PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES— Nine Chinese fishermen will go on trial this week in the Philippines for allegedly poaching in Filipino territorial waters and catching a protected turtle species. Their arrest has angered the Beijing government, which says the fishermen were in China’s territory. Some analysts say the trial highlights the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea.The Philippines’ National Police Special Boat Unit patrols the waters around the island province of Palawan. The United States gave Philippine authorities six fast ships to help fight various types of crime, as the unit’s captain Osmundo Salito explains.
“Narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, piracy, smuggling, poaching and other forms of criminality,” said Salito.
That includes catching foreigners illegally fishing in the Philippines’ territorial waters.
Speed boats belonging to the Philippines’ National Police Special Boat Unit sitting in harbor, Palawan, Philippines, Sept. 3, 2014. (Jason Strother/VOA)
Anchored at the dock of the Special Boat Unit’s station is a 30-meter long ship. The maritime police say they picked up its crew of 11 Chinese nationals as well as 5 Filipino accomplices while catching endangered sea turtles.
They were found in waters near the Half Moon Shoal in the South China Sea, in an area of the Spratly Islands claimed by both the Philippines and China.
The capture of the Chinese ship in May prompted Beijing to ask Manila to immediately release the crew and their ship. A spokeswoman warned the Philippines not to take any provocative actions.
But Philippine authorities pressed charges against nine of the ship’s adult Chinese fishermen. They will go on trial later this week and if convicted, they face between 12 and 20 years in prison for violating a protected species law.
This follows a ruling last month, in which a Palawan court found 12 other Chinese fishermen guilty of poaching in a protected coral reef zone. Those men were sentenced to between 6 and 12 years behind bars.
Palawan’s chief prosecutor, Alen Rodriguez, said they are not specifically targeting Chinese fishermen, but claims all of these men clearly broke Filipino law.
“There is overwhelming evidence and we can just not turn the other way and let them leave. I am confident we will get the conviction,” said Rodriguez.
Tensions are high throughout the South China Sea. Earlier this year, China attempted to build an oil platform in waters claimed by Vietnam. The Philippine navy said Chinese forces try to block its’ supply ships. And recently, Washington said a Chinese fighter jet confronted one of its own planes in airspace over the sea.
China shocked the Philippines and the world when it tried to prevent the Philippines from a resupply mission to Filipino Marines. A China Coast Guard ship (top) and a Philippine supply boat engage in a stand off as the Philippine boat attempts to reach the Second Thomas Shoal, a remote South China Sea a reef claimed by both countries, on March 29, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jay Directo )
Some observers in Manila say the frequent maritime violations by Chinese fishermen are an example of Beijing’s territorial expansion plan.
Rafael Alunan, a former Philippines Secretary of the Interior, says the fishermen are just a proxy for the Chinese military.
“The fishermen are part of the salami slice strategy of China. They are using their fishing fleets, fishermen, their civilian ships, to poach, occupy, reclaim. They’re using their civilian assets and the fishermen are at the vanguard,” said Alunan.
Alunan said that while dialogue can help offset some of these tensions, Manila must also show strength against what it sees as Chinese aggression at sea.
Prosecutor Rodriguez said that if the 9 Chinese poachers are convicted, it does not seem likely they will be granted a presidential pardon as some other foreign fishermen received in the past.
“In the past, during the time of President Arroyo, she issued pardon to some Chinese fishermen and [they] were allowed to go home. But under the Aquino administration, I have not heard of such [an] incident at the moment,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez expects the trial of the fishermen to conclude by the end of September.
“Narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, piracy, smuggling, poaching and other forms of criminality,” said Salito.
That includes catching foreigners illegally fishing in the Philippines’ territorial waters.
Speed boats belonging to the Philippines’ National Police Special Boat Unit sitting in harbor, Palawan, Philippines, Sept. 3, 2014. (Jason Strother/VOA)
They were found in waters near the Half Moon Shoal in the South China Sea, in an area of the Spratly Islands claimed by both the Philippines and China.
The capture of the Chinese ship in May prompted Beijing to ask Manila to immediately release the crew and their ship. A spokeswoman warned the Philippines not to take any provocative actions.
But Philippine authorities pressed charges against nine of the ship’s adult Chinese fishermen. They will go on trial later this week and if convicted, they face between 12 and 20 years in prison for violating a protected species law.
This follows a ruling last month, in which a Palawan court found 12 other Chinese fishermen guilty of poaching in a protected coral reef zone. Those men were sentenced to between 6 and 12 years behind bars.
Palawan’s chief prosecutor, Alen Rodriguez, said they are not specifically targeting Chinese fishermen, but claims all of these men clearly broke Filipino law.
“There is overwhelming evidence and we can just not turn the other way and let them leave. I am confident we will get the conviction,” said Rodriguez.
Tensions are high throughout the South China Sea. Earlier this year, China attempted to build an oil platform in waters claimed by Vietnam. The Philippine navy said Chinese forces try to block its’ supply ships. And recently, Washington said a Chinese fighter jet confronted one of its own planes in airspace over the sea.
China shocked the Philippines and the world when it tried to prevent the Philippines from a resupply mission to Filipino Marines. A China Coast Guard ship (top) and a Philippine supply boat engage in a stand off as the Philippine boat attempts to reach the Second Thomas Shoal, a remote South China Sea a reef claimed by both countries, on March 29, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jay Directo )
Some observers in Manila say the frequent maritime violations by Chinese fishermen are an example of Beijing’s territorial expansion plan.
Rafael Alunan, a former Philippines Secretary of the Interior, says the fishermen are just a proxy for the Chinese military.
“The fishermen are part of the salami slice strategy of China. They are using their fishing fleets, fishermen, their civilian ships, to poach, occupy, reclaim. They’re using their civilian assets and the fishermen are at the vanguard,” said Alunan.
Alunan said that while dialogue can help offset some of these tensions, Manila must also show strength against what it sees as Chinese aggression at sea.
Prosecutor Rodriguez said that if the 9 Chinese poachers are convicted, it does not seem likely they will be granted a presidential pardon as some other foreign fishermen received in the past.
“In the past, during the time of President Arroyo, she issued pardon to some Chinese fishermen and [they] were allowed to go home. But under the Aquino administration, I have not heard of such [an] incident at the moment,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez expects the trial of the fishermen to conclude by the end of September.
Philippine trial of Chinese fishermen on hold awaiting interpretter
June 17, 2014
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Nine Chinese fishermen, part of 11 detained on May 6, 2014, stand outside the provincial prison in Palawan, Puerto Princesa, western Philippines, as they await trial, May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Liezel Chiu
MANILA (Reuters) – A Philippine case against nine Chinese fishermen caught with endangered turtles at a disputed reef was held up on Tuesday due to the lack of an interpretter, which a prosecutor blamed on pressure from China.
Manila says the fishermen were within the Philippines’ 200-mile (322-km) exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea with hundreds of marine turtles, in violation of a United Nations convention on trading the endangered wildlife species.
China has demanded the release of the fishermen, saying the arrest was illegal because they were caught in China’s waters. It has also denied blocking the hire of an interpreter.
China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, an area believed to be rich in hydrocarbon deposits and fisheries. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
The Chinese fishermen’s pre-trial hearing has been postponed twice and a planned session on Wednesday may also be called off unless an interpreter is found.“We can’t find a competent interpreter for the Chinese fishermen,” a member of the prosecution team, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
BUSINESS LINKS?
A Chinese businessman based in the island of Palawan in the west of the Philippine archipelago, usually volunteers his services as interpreter in court but has begged off this time.
“There was an apparent pressure from the Chinese embassy,” the prosecution team member added. “These people are conducting business in China and they do not want to get involved in the case.”
Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said provincial prosecutor Allen Rodriguez had told him that Chinese embassy officials did not want to participate in the proceedings.
“They don’t want to provide interpreter for the Chinese fishermen,” Coloma quoted Rodriguez as saying. “Judge Ambrocio de Luna and I exerted effort to look for interpreter by requesting the Chinese community here in Palawan for assistance. But they don’t want to cooperate with us.”
China’s ambassador to Manila, Zhao Jianhua, denied his government was delaying the case and demanded the immediate release of the fishermen. “We are not blocking the hiring of an interpreter,” he told Reuters.
The court has asked the foreign ministry in Manila, the capital, for an official interpreter in order to avoid delay.
Lawyers appointed by the court to defend the fishermen say they are also having difficulty getting the Chinese embassy to certify that they can handle the criminal case.
Such a sign-off is a necessary step before they can represent the fishermen as indigent litigants.
Last month, Philippine police seized a Chinese fishing boat in Half Moon Shoal in the disputed Spratly Islands, about 100 miles off the coast of Palawan, and arrested 11 crew members. Two were later freed because they were minors.
(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Related:Chinese Fishermen Accused by the Philippines of Illegal Poaching of Endangered Sea Turtles Start Trial Tuesday — Remain In “Total Defiance” of International and Philippine Law
South China Sea: Philippine Boat Police Drive Chinese “Nuts”
June 17, 2014
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Combating human trafficking is one part of the PNP’s Special Boat Unit’s mission, but most of its time and resources is spent on trying to stop poaching of rare fish and other endangered wildlife in and around Palawan
Members of Philippine Maritime police Special Boat Unit, riding on US-made gun boats, maneouver during a training exercise in Honda Bay, off Puerto Princesa, Palawan island, southwest of Manila, on June 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)
HONDA BAY (Philippines) (AFP) – After a short, intense chase, two Philippine police gunboats catch up with an illegal fishing vessel and circle it like menacing sharks, their armed commandos poised to rappel onboard.
“Their first reaction is to flee, but they stop once they realise they cannot out-run us,” boat captain John Rey Zumarraga told AFP during a training exercise in Honda Bay off the Philippines’ most western island of Palawan.
With top speeds of 83 kilometres an hour (45 knots), modern radar systems and elite marine officers, the 10-metre (33-foot) Special Boat Unit vessels are bad news for illegal fishermen.
Set up four years ago with funding from the US government, which also donated the gunboats and provided Navy SEAL training, the unit’s mission is to patrol the near-2,000-kilometre (1,243-mile) coast of the strategically located province.
Combating human trafficking is one part of its mission, but most of its time and resources is spent on trying to stop poaching of rare fish and other endangered wildlife in and around Palawan, which lies astride the South China Sea.“Without those (gunboats) the poachers would be laughing at us,” said the unit’s chief administrative officer, Inspector Bryan Espinosa.
But the unit has an Achilles heel, or two: with just six boats and a tiny fuel budget from an under-funded police force, it cannot come close to adequately patrolling the waters around Palawan and into the South China Sea.
“The area is too vast to be patrolled,” Espinosa conceded.
- Small boats make big diplomatic waves -
Nevertheless, the boat unit has been involved in the arrests of hundreds of fishermen, many of them foreigners, and busts involving Chinese and Vietnamese crews have sent diplomatic shockwaves across the South China Sea.
Most recently, the unit last month arrested 9 Chinese fishermen in hotly contested South China Sea waters off Palawan and seized their boat, which police said contained hundreds of endangered hawksbill sea turtles, many of them dead.
Most of the unit’s work is restricted to just off the coast of Palawan, which is indisputably Philippine territory.
However the Chinese bust occurred more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) off Palawan in a part of the South China Sea that the Philippines insists it has sovereign rights over but is also claimed by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
The arrests fuelled a decades-long but increasingly bitter row between the Philippines and China over their competing claims to parts of the sea, and the Chinese government demanded the fishermen be immediately released.
China insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the South China Sea, including waters more than 1,000 kilometres from its most southern major landmass and just 40 or 50 kilometres from Palawan.
The Philippine government has held its ground in the case, maintaining the fishermen must be brought to justice for harvesting a rare and protected species, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.
The crew of the Chinese boat have appeared in court at Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan, for initial proceedings in what is expected to be a lengthy judicial process. They have pleaded not guilty.
They are in the provincial jail with dozens of Vietnamese arrested near Palawan’s most southern tip in waters that indisputably belong to the Philippines.
Twelve of those fishermen offered last week to switch to guilty pleas and pay fines in exchange for their immediate release.
The court did not give an immediate decision but chief Palawan state prosecutor Alen Rodriguez said plea bargains were common.
“Bringing about convictions is quite easy, especially as they often resort to plea bargains,” Rodriguez told AFP.
In 2011, the boat unit was also involved in a joint operation with the military that led to the arrest of 122 Vietnamese, the biggest illegal fishing bust in recent memory. They served jail terms of about six months, then were sent home.
Rodriquez said most foreigners charged with illegal fishing served sentences ranging from six months to four years.
The Chinese detained last week face longer prison terms because their case involves an endangered species, rather than just illegal fishing.
Fishermen from China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam have for centuries shared the South China Sea’s riches, mostly peacefully.
But in recent decades, competition for increasingly scarce fish stocks has heightened as populations in Asian nations have boomed, forcing fishermen to travel further from home and closer to foreign coasts for their hauls.
“They know fully well that they are fishing beyond their territorial waters. Their vessels are equipped with GPS (global positioning system),” said the boat unit’s spokesman, Inspector Raymond Abella.
- Boat unit grows, but not enough -
The unit is expanding, with a new station being built near Malaysia and another one planned for the sea border with Indonesia.
However Abella conceded this still would not be nearly enough to counter the growing problem of foreign fishing incursions.
“We know it remains rampant,” he said.
“Palawan has a lot of resources that are no longer available where they come from, and it is relatively easy to get them. They know that policing here is not as strict, that’s why they continue to come here.”
Meanwhile, there are no police gunboats to patrol the rest of the country’s coastline, the fourth longest in the world.
The safeguarding of marine resources along the rest of the Philippines’ coastline is left to the poorly equipped navy and coastguard, which is generally preoccupied with other duties.
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Members of Philippine Maritime police Special Boat Unit simulate an apprehension of poachers during a training exercise in Honda Bay off Puerto Princesa, Palawan island, southwest of Manila, on June 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)
Members of Philippine Maritime police Special Boat Unit ride on US-made gun boats during a training exercise in Honda Bay off Puerto Princesa, Palawan island, southwest of Manila, on June 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)
Chinese Fishermen Accused by the Philippines of Illegal Poaching of Endangered Sea Turtles Start Trial Tuesday — Remain In “Total Defiance” of International and Philippine Law
June 16, 2014
Monday, May 16, 2014
The South China Morning Post is reporting today that Chinese men arrested in the South China Sea by the Philippines and charged with illegally taking (poaching) endangered sea turtles last month await their trial in “total defiance” of Philippine law.
The 9 Chinese fishermen caught poaching off Half Moon Shoal in the disputed waters go to trial in the Philippines tomorrow.
The nine Chinese fishermen from Hainan face up to 20 years in jail as court proceedings begin on Tuesday amid growing tensions in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila.
A photo released by the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said to show live sea turtles which were seized from a vessel flying a Chinese flag cruising in waters off the South China Sea May 6, 2014. Associated Press
The South China Morning Post is reporting today that Chinese men arrested in the South China Sea by the Philippines and charged with illegally taking (poaching) endangered sea turtles last month await their trial in “total defiance” of Philippine law.
The 9 Chinese fishermen caught poaching off Half Moon Shoal in the disputed waters go to trial in the Philippines tomorrow.
The nine Chinese fishermen from Hainan face up to 20 years in jail as court proceedings begin on Tuesday amid growing tensions in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila.
A photo released by the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said to show live sea turtles which were seized from a vessel flying a Chinese flag cruising in waters off the South China Sea May 6, 2014. Associated Press
Philippine court charges nine of eleven Chinese fishermen arrested for suspected poaching
May 12, 2014
Xinhua
MANILA, May 12 — Nine out of the 11 Chinese fishermen arrested by local police last Tuesday near China’s Half Moon Shoal in the South China Sea were formally charged by the Palawan Regional Trial Court in western Philippines on Monday.
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Palawan Province Prosecutor Allen Ross Rodriguez said the charges were filed following inquest proceedings which pushed through despite the fishermen’s refusal to be represented by a counsel.
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Rodriguez, however, dismissed the charges against the other two Chinese fishermen as they were said to be minors. The inquest was supposed to be conducted last Friday but was deferred as the fishermen have no lawyer and interpreter yet.
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The Philippine Department of Justice explained that the Chinese fishermen refused to be represented by public attorneys being provided to them during the hearing. The 11 Chinese fishermen aboard fishing boat Qiongqionghai 09063 were seized by the Philippine police while fishing in waters off China’s Half Moon Shoal on May 6.
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China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged the Philippines to “immediately” release detained fishermen and their boat. However, the Philippine side ignored China’s demand and took the 11 Chinese fishermen to Puerto Princesa in Palawan, claiming they were found poaching endangered species in Philippine waters.
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（Editor：DuMingming、Gao Yinan)
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Despite Warnings From China; Philippines To Charge 9 Chinese Fishermen With Poaching
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MANILA, May 12 — Nine out of the 11 Chinese fishermen arrested by local police last Tuesday near China’s Half Moon Shoal in the South China Sea were formally charged by the Palawan Regional Trial Court in western Philippines on Monday.
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Palawan Province Prosecutor Allen Ross Rodriguez said the charges were filed following inquest proceedings which pushed through despite the fishermen’s refusal to be represented by a counsel.
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Rodriguez, however, dismissed the charges against the other two Chinese fishermen as they were said to be minors. The inquest was supposed to be conducted last Friday but was deferred as the fishermen have no lawyer and interpreter yet.
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The Philippine Department of Justice explained that the Chinese fishermen refused to be represented by public attorneys being provided to them during the hearing. The 11 Chinese fishermen aboard fishing boat Qiongqionghai 09063 were seized by the Philippine police while fishing in waters off China’s Half Moon Shoal on May 6.
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China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged the Philippines to “immediately” release detained fishermen and their boat. However, the Philippine side ignored China’s demand and took the 11 Chinese fishermen to Puerto Princesa in Palawan, claiming they were found poaching endangered species in Philippine waters.
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（Editor：DuMingming、Gao Yinan)
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Despite Warnings From China; Philippines To Charge 9 Chinese Fishermen With Poaching
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A photo released by the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said to show live sea turtles which were seized from a vessel flying a Chinese flag cruising in waters off the South China Sea May 6, 2014. Associated Press
PUERTO PRINCESA :Philippine prosecutors said today they would charge nine Chinese fishermen arrested in disputed South China Sea waters with environmental crimes, despite Beijing’s warning of a dire effect on relations.
The decision, announced by prosecutors in Puerto Princesa on Palawan island, is set to further stoke the simmering territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
Prosecutor Allan Ross Rodriguez told AFP he would file charges in court later today, rejecting the appeals of two Chinese diplomats who met him earlier in the day about the case.
“It is clear: there was a fishing vessel, Chinese fishermen, a catch of (protected) sea turtles. It is clear from what the apprehending officers said,” Rodriguez said, explaining the basis for his decision.
Chinese embassy officials in Manila could not be contacted for comment.
Filipino police seized the Chinese-flagged vessel and detained its 11 crew last week off disputed Half Moon Shoal.
However, two were found to be minors and would be repatriated without charges, Rodriguez said.
The remaining nine would be charged with violating laws against poaching and catching protected species.
If found guilty of collecting “rare, threatened or endangered” species, the most serious allegation, they could face up to 20 years in prison and large fines.
Poaching in Philippine waters itself is punishable by fines of up to $200,000.
Filipino police said they found a huge haul of hundreds of sea turtles — a protected species — on board the 15-tonne vessel, many of them already dead.
A photo released by the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said to show live sea turtles which were seized from a vessel flying a Chinese flag cruising in waters off the South China Sea May 6, 2014. Associated Press
China has demanded that the Philippines free the fishermen immediately, saying it has “undisputable sovereignty” over the shoal.Its foreign ministry and embassy in Manila have also urged the Philippines to “stop taking further provocative action” that would harm relations.
Rodriguez said the Philippine government has assigned lawyers to represent the crewmen after the Chinese diplomats declined to hire defence lawyers.
Half Moon Shoal is 111 kilometres (60 nautical miles) west of Palawan, the most westerly island in the Philippines. It is located on the eastern edge of the Spratlys, a chain that sits near vital sea lanes and is believed to harbour vast oil and gas resources.
China’s claim to nearly all of the South China Sea has strained its ties with Southeast Asian countries.
Last week Vietnam accused China of ramming its ships in an encounter near another disputed territory in the sea.
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes both Vietnam and the Philippines, in a statement after a weekend summit expressed “serious concern” at the maritime disputes.
China’s extensive claims also overlap those of ASEAN members Brunei and Malaysia, as well as Taiwan’s.
The Philippines in March filed a formal plea to the United Nations challenging Beijing’s claims, in defiance of Chinese warnings that it would seriously damage their already frayed relations.
Beijing has rejected UN arbitration and urged Manila to settle the dispute through bilateral talks instead.–AFP
Photo: Chinese marine surveillance officers stop and search fishermen in international waters in the South China Sea
China has claimed much of the South China Sea for itself — claims that have upset many in the region, especially Vietnam and the Philippines. A huge wealth of untapped oil is believed to be below the sea here.
The chart below shows the area declared by China on 1 January 2014 as “an area under China’s jurisdiction.” China says “foreign fishing vessels” can only enter and work in this area with prior approval from China. Vietnam, the Philippines and others have said they will not comply with China’s law.
Philippines Says South China Sea Poaching Arrests Points To China
May 8, 2014
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Chinese fishermen were violating Philippine environmental laws
By Chris Larano
The Wall Street Journal
A photo released by the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said to show live sea turtles which were seized from a vessel flying a Chinese flag cruising in waters off the South China Sea May 6, 2014. Associated Press
MANILA—The chief of the Philippine National Police said Thursday the arrest of alleged Chinese poachers earlier this week in disputed South China Sea waters wasn’t meant to provoke China but was instead part of routine anti-smuggling efforts.
The Philippine National Police director said the 11 fishermen arrested—and identified by China as Chinese—were on one of two boats that were seized for the suspected poaching of hundreds of sea turtles. The arrests’ by the PNP’s maritime group on Tuesday came after a tip and occurred at the Half Moon Shoal, a sandbar near the disputed Spratly Islands.
The arrests prompted a stern response from China on Wednesday, a day that also saw tensions between China and Vietnam over an oil rig a Chinese state-run company placed in the South China Sea.
“We are just doing our job,” the PNP Director General Alan Purisima said at a news briefing.
Police said they found 354 sea turtles on the Chinese vessel, 234 of them dead, while the Filipino boat was loaded with 70 live sea turtles. The arrests were at the Half Moon Shoal, a sandbar near the disputed Spratly Islands.
Alex Marcaida, information officer of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, told The Wall Street Journal that charges are now being readied against Chinese and Filipino poachers and will likely be filed on Friday. “Poaching is a criminal case,” he said. Mr. Marcaida said the fishing boats containing the marine turtles were scheduled to arrive later Thursday at Palawan’s capital city of Puerto Princesa. The fishermen were brought in earlier Thursday.
He said the live turtles will be identified, receive any needed medical treatment and then be released into the sea. The dead turtles will be buried at the same site where dead anteaters recovered from poachers last year were also buried, he added.
Sea turtles, globally protected sea reptiles, are hunted for their meat, eggs and shells. The meat is used for soups and stews while the shells become ornaments and jewelry. The eggs are believed by some people to have aphrodisiac properties.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called on the Philippines to release the fishermen, saying they were Chinese fishing in an area that belongs to China.
The ministry told the Philippines to refrain from taking “provocative” actions. The Chinese ministry said the area where the Chinese fishermen were stopped belongs to China and is called Ban Yue Reef. Internationally, the area is known as Half Moon Shoal, while the Philippines calls it Hasa Hasa Shoal.
Fishermen apprehended by Philippine National Police Maritime Group, allegedly with sea turtles on board their boat, leave a bus at Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Associated Press
Mr. Purisima disputed China’s claim of control over the area, saying that the shoal is just 100 kilometers off the Philippines’ Palawan island and well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. Such a zone under United Nations’ convention extends to a distance of around 370 kilometers from a country’s coast. “That is ours. That’s part of the Philippine territory,” he said.
Chief Superintendent Noel Lazarus Vargas, chief of the PNP maritime group that apprehended the Chinese vessel, said the maritime police were targeting the Filipino vessel after receiving information it was poaching from residents of nearby islands. When they found the Filipino boat, some of its crew allegedly were unloading the sea turtles onto the 25-meter-long “foreign” vessel.
“If you noticed, I keep referring to a ‘foreign vessel,’ and I did not identify their (arrested crew’s) nationalities,” said Mr. Vargas. “We had an experience last week when we apprehended a small boat with six crew. It was flying the flag of another country. After the arrest, we found out that they (crew members) came from different countries,” he added.
“We’ll keep referring to them as foreign nationals until we determine their nationality,” said Mr. Vargas, brushing aside China’s declaration of the crew as Chinese.
The police said the 11 crew members, including its captain Chen Hi Quan, arrived in Palawan’s capital city of Puerto Princesa early Thursday and are now undergoing investigation before charges of violating Philippine environmental laws are filed. Also in police custody are the skipper of the Filipino boat, Romantic Amlain, and four crew members.
The Philippine chapter of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature said each year thousands of poachers, both local and foreign, collect protected turtles, corals and fish in the country, but only a few are apprehended given the extensive coastline of the Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.
“To date, there are but a handful of cases where illegal fishers or poachers saw actual jail time. Existing laws are one thing, enforcing them is another,” said Gregg Yan, WWF-Philippines communications manager.
—Josephine Cuneta in Manila contributed to this article.
Write to Cris Larano at cris.larano@wsj.com
Chinese fishermen were violating Philippine environmental laws
The Wall Street Journal
A photo released by the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said to show live sea turtles which were seized from a vessel flying a Chinese flag cruising in waters off the South China Sea May 6, 2014. Associated Press
MANILA—The chief of the Philippine National Police said Thursday the arrest of alleged Chinese poachers earlier this week in disputed South China Sea waters wasn’t meant to provoke China but was instead part of routine anti-smuggling efforts.
The Philippine National Police director said the 11 fishermen arrested—and identified by China as Chinese—were on one of two boats that were seized for the suspected poaching of hundreds of sea turtles. The arrests’ by the PNP’s maritime group on Tuesday came after a tip and occurred at the Half Moon Shoal, a sandbar near the disputed Spratly Islands.
The arrests prompted a stern response from China on Wednesday, a day that also saw tensions between China and Vietnam over an oil rig a Chinese state-run company placed in the South China Sea.
“We are just doing our job,” the PNP Director General Alan Purisima said at a news briefing.
Police said they found 354 sea turtles on the Chinese vessel, 234 of them dead, while the Filipino boat was loaded with 70 live sea turtles. The arrests were at the Half Moon Shoal, a sandbar near the disputed Spratly Islands.
He said the live turtles will be identified, receive any needed medical treatment and then be released into the sea. The dead turtles will be buried at the same site where dead anteaters recovered from poachers last year were also buried, he added.
Sea turtles, globally protected sea reptiles, are hunted for their meat, eggs and shells. The meat is used for soups and stews while the shells become ornaments and jewelry. The eggs are believed by some people to have aphrodisiac properties.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called on the Philippines to release the fishermen, saying they were Chinese fishing in an area that belongs to China.
The ministry told the Philippines to refrain from taking “provocative” actions. The Chinese ministry said the area where the Chinese fishermen were stopped belongs to China and is called Ban Yue Reef. Internationally, the area is known as Half Moon Shoal, while the Philippines calls it Hasa Hasa Shoal.
Fishermen apprehended by Philippine National Police Maritime Group, allegedly with sea turtles on board their boat, leave a bus at Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Associated Press
Chief Superintendent Noel Lazarus Vargas, chief of the PNP maritime group that apprehended the Chinese vessel, said the maritime police were targeting the Filipino vessel after receiving information it was poaching from residents of nearby islands. When they found the Filipino boat, some of its crew allegedly were unloading the sea turtles onto the 25-meter-long “foreign” vessel.
“If you noticed, I keep referring to a ‘foreign vessel,’ and I did not identify their (arrested crew’s) nationalities,” said Mr. Vargas. “We had an experience last week when we apprehended a small boat with six crew. It was flying the flag of another country. After the arrest, we found out that they (crew members) came from different countries,” he added.
“We’ll keep referring to them as foreign nationals until we determine their nationality,” said Mr. Vargas, brushing aside China’s declaration of the crew as Chinese.
The police said the 11 crew members, including its captain Chen Hi Quan, arrived in Palawan’s capital city of Puerto Princesa early Thursday and are now undergoing investigation before charges of violating Philippine environmental laws are filed. Also in police custody are the skipper of the Filipino boat, Romantic Amlain, and four crew members.
The Philippine chapter of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature said each year thousands of poachers, both local and foreign, collect protected turtles, corals and fish in the country, but only a few are apprehended given the extensive coastline of the Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.
“To date, there are but a handful of cases where illegal fishers or poachers saw actual jail time. Existing laws are one thing, enforcing them is another,” said Gregg Yan, WWF-Philippines communications manager.
—Josephine Cuneta in Manila contributed to this article.
Write to Cris Larano at cris.larano@wsj.com
Philippines Defiant: Refuses To Obey China’s Demands To Release Chinese Fishermen Illegally Fishing Near Philippines
May 8, 2014Philippine National Police Maritime Group director, Chief Superintendent Noel Lazarus Vargas addresses the media during a news conference on the police’ arrest of Chinese fishermen at one of the disputed Shoals, the Half Moon Shoal, off the South China Sea Thursday, May 8, 2014 at the police headquarters at Camp Crame northeast of Manila, Philippines.AP/Bullit Marquez
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police chief says the government will investigate 11 Chinese fishermen to see if they illegally entered the country or committed other crimes, ignoring China’s demand for them to be immediately released.
China pressed the Philippines to release the fishermen and their boat, warning Manila Thursday not to take any more “provocative actions so as to avoid further damage to the bilateral relations.”
Asked if the Philippines will heed China’s demand, national police chief Alan Purisima says the fishermen will be investigated to determine if they illegally entered the country and committed other crimes such as poaching.
Philippine police took the fishermen and their boat into custody Tuesday in a disputed South China Sea shoal, adding the vessel was loaded with more than 350 endangered green sea turtle.
Related story: PNP now meeting with Chinese boat captain
It is the latest territorial spat between the two Asian nations, which have had increasingly tense disputes over two shoals and other areas of the South China Sea.
China earlier said via state media that Chinese officials lost contact with 11 fishermen after they were intercepted by armed men near Half Moon Shoal not far from the Philippines.
The shoal, called Hasa Hasa in the Philippines, is claimed by China as part of the Nansha island chain, known internationally as the Spratly Islands. The Spratlys are a major cluster of potentially oil- and gas-rich islands and reefs long disputed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
China lays claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and is locked in an increasingly heated dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam and others over rights to energy resources, fishing grounds and island outposts.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. had seen reports that Philippine police have seized Chinese and Philippine fishing boats carrying illegally harvested sea turtles about 60 miles (96 kilometers) off the coast of the Philippines, and detained their crews. She urged both sides to work together diplomatically, and voiced U.S. concern that the vessels appeared to have been engaged in direct harvest of endangered species.
Vargas said the Chinese boat will be taken to the western Philippine province of Palawan, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) from Half Moon Shoal, and the fishermen will face charges of violating Philippine laws prohibiting catches of endangered green sea turtles.
Another boat with Philippine fishermen was also caught in the area with 70 turtles aboard, and those fishermen will face the same charges, Vargas said.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said the Chinese fishermen’s vessel was intercepted on Tuesday by armed men who fired warning shots in the air. An official from the Fishing Port Monitoring Center at Tanmen in China’s Hainan province confirmed the report. He said he had no other details and declined to give his name, as is common among Chinese bureaucrats.
A Chinese frigate became stuck in the shallows of Half Moon Shoal while on a security patrol in 2012, prompting China to send rescue vessels. - Jim Gomez, Christopher Bodeen
13 Vietnamese arrested in Philippines over sea turtles
October 22, 2013
PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (AFP) – Thirteen Vietnamese fishermen were arrested after being found in Philippine waters with a haul of protected sea turtles, police said Monday.
The fishermen were caught on Friday off the western Philippine island of Palawan, in waters near the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) where authorities say foreign poaching of endangered or protected species has become a major problem.
“Upon initial inspection, it was found out that the said foreign fishing vessel is loaded with undetermined (number of) pieces of dead sea turtles,” said Benigno Caabay, a station officer at the Palawan police provincial headquarters, quoting an official report.
The 13 are being held at a police camp in Palawan while officers look into filing a case against them, Caabay added.
Sea turtles are protected under Philippine law and catching them is punishable by at least 12 years in jail.
In recent years, Philippine authorities have frequently caught foreigners, often Chinese, catching or buying sea turtles in the waters off Palawan.
In November last year, in the same area where the Vietnamese were caught, the Philippine navy rescued more than 100 sea turtles from poachers. But the fishermen, whom authorities believed to be Chinese, escaped.
Twelve Chinese fishermen were also arrested in April after their boat, which ran aground on a protected reef, was found to be carrying hundreds of dead pangolins, or scaly anteaters, another protected species.
Their case is still pending in court.
The issue of foreigners poaching endangered species has become sensitive in the Philippines, with environmentalists calling for stronger action against the perpetrators.
Following pressure from their governments, the foreigners often have the charges dropped or lessened, allowing them to be deported quickly back home.
Caabay said fisheries experts were still determining what species of turtles were caught, although he stressed they were all protected under local laws.
The turtles were frozen and packed tightly in the cargo hold of the fishing vessel, he said.
Turtles are used in traditional medicine or are served as delicacy in many Asian countries.
Vietnam Seizes 2 Tons of Smuggled Elephant Tusks
October 9, 2013
(AP) Authorities in Vietnam have seized nearly 2 tons of elephant tusks illegally imported from Malaysia, state media reported Wednesday.
Customs officials in the northern port city of Hai Phong found the tusks last week in a container shipped from Malaysia en route to China, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said Wednesday. The cargo had been declared as sea shells.
Customs officials were not immediately available for comment.
In 2009, authorities in Hai Phong confiscated nearly 7 tons of ivory smuggled from Tanzania in the country’s biggest such seizure.
The tusks were to be used for jewelry and home decorations.
Vietnam bans the hunting of the country’s dwindling population of elephants, which poachers value highly for their tusks
Customs officials in the northern port city of Hai Phong found the tusks last week in a container shipped from Malaysia en route to China, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said Wednesday. The cargo had been declared as sea shells.
Customs officials were not immediately available for comment.
In 2009, authorities in Hai Phong confiscated nearly 7 tons of ivory smuggled from Tanzania in the country’s biggest such seizure.
The tusks were to be used for jewelry and home decorations.
Vietnam bans the hunting of the country’s dwindling population of elephants, which poachers value highly for their tusks
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