Screw North Korean nukes or Chinese missiles pointed at Taiwan — it’s the Japanese Coast Guard that poses the greatest threat to peace in East Asia! This morning, continuing a dastardly naval tradition that goes back to Port Arthur and Pearl Harbor, a Japanese Coast Guard cutter fired tear gas shells at a defenseless Korean fishing boat that was operating “near” Japan’s EEZ. A fragment from one of the shells fired by the Wae pirates struck the captain of the fishing boat in the head — he’s been evacuated to a hospital on Geoje Island.
Now, the Chosun Ilbo quotes an official from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries as saying — those with even a basic sense of irony are cautioned not to hurt themselves laughing — that the Japanese response could be seen as an “overreaction” and “taking into account the friendly relations between the two countries, this [firing tear gas] was going too far.”
Interestingly enough, CBS has some of the Japanese press accounts of what transpired. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the Korean fishing boat was indeed operating in Japan’s EEZ, and the Coast Guard warned the vessel to stop via flares and loudspeaker several times before firing the tear gas. The boat, coincidentally, escaped back into Korean waters (so say the Japanese) about an hour after the incident. The conservative Sankei Shimbun quoted a Japanese Coast Guard official as saying that, “A Korean fishing boat violated our EEZ, and we took legal measures. The Korean coastal authorities are agreeing with this.”
Meanwhile, the hapless captain of the fishing boat in question is claiming that the Japanese suddenly fired as soon as he refused to respond to their order to stop. I guess we’ll find out what went down soon enough.
Korea Times report here.
4 Comments
Dang, beat to the punch again. I really wanted to run with this one.
Gereral Mobilization! Man the guns! Do whatever one does to ramparts, whatever they are! Call out the navy! Issue a stamp! Punish the dirty Japs by refusing to sell more porn to them!
I dunno, this seems relatively penny-ante, considering the maritime brouhahas you get up north of Inchon.
Well, yes, but let’s be honest - periodic fishing disputes happen every now and again in different parts of the world. And the citizens involved wax pissed - “why, we oughtaa…!”
And, then it’s over.
I remember when Canada and Spain had their ‘93 dispute…Spain dispatching a warship out of port…citizens of both countries utterly convinced we were right….
Fishing is money. There are sea borders, borders harder to define and watch than land borders. Thus the disputes all over the world.
You could replace the names Japan and Korea and this would be a not-so unusual story about any two maritime nations….
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TITLE: Asia by blog
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Who’s saying what and about whom in Asian blogs this week? Let’s find out. Firstly Harry has the litany of Chinese disasters. Conrad has an interesting piece on the connection between the crooks and the Triads. Daai Tou Laam talks about the pressure on…
PING:
TITLE: Asia by blog
BLOG NAME: Simon World
Who’s saying what and about whom in Asian blogs this week? Let’s find out. Firstly Harry has the litany of Chinese disasters. Conrad has an interesting piece on the connection between the crooks and the Triads. Daai Tou Laam talks about the pressure on…