Indonesia Sinks Boats from China
According to The China People's Daily, Indonesia has just sank a large Chinese vessel and 40 other foreign ships caught fishing in The South China Sea.
The Jakarta Post cited Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti as saying that the Gui Xei Yu 12661, a steel-made, 300-gross-ton boat, was sunk on Wednesday in Pontianak, West Kalimantan after it was detonated by the ministry with an explosive device planted on it.
AP confirms that Indonesian authorities blew up and sank the 41 foreign fishing vessels as a warning against poaching in the country's waters.
The 300 gross tonne Chinese vessel was destroyed with a low-explosive device on its hull in West Kalimantan, said Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
The Chinese boat was reportedly among 41 vessels simultaneously destroyed to commemorate National Awakening Day, with the others being from neighboring states including the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The vessels from a variety of countries were blown up in several ports across the archipelago, which has some of the world's richest fishing grounds.
“This is not a show of force. This is just merely (us) enforcing our laws,” Ms Susi was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.
The Indonesian government has been criticized by some in Southeast Asia for its controversial policy of sinking foreign boats from neighboring countries, a practice which Jokowi and his advisers say is necessary since illegal fishing costs the country billions of dollars in lost revenue each year.
Indonesia has defended its policy of seizing and destroying illegal fishing boats, a hardline approach that risks attracting regional anger.
“Without the continued fight against illegal fishing, we won’t be able to improve the welfare of our fishermen,” Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti told The Jakarta Post newspaper.
