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Geopolitics

After Stabbing At Sea, Old Animosities Surface Between China And South Korea

Analysis: When a Chinese fisherman was accused of the fatal stabbing of a South Korean coast guard officer public outrage came quickly from both countries. The incident shows the fragility of all the new talk of regional cooperation when ancient mistrust

A fishing boat near Shangai (Bruce Tuten)
A fishing boat near Shangai (Bruce Tuten)
Wang Xiaoxia

BEIJING - It began two weeks ago, when a South Korean Coast Guard officer was stabbed to death by a Chinese fisherman.

In both countries, public reaction to the incident was swift and virulent. South Koreans took to the streets to burn Chinese flags and lay siege to the Chinese embassy. In China, anti-Korean sentiment was also stoked. Even Japan was alarmed.

On the diplomatic front, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed the standard regrets, while South Korean authorities announced major new plans for "an integrated approach to eradicate illegal fishing by Chinese boats." South Korea also vowed to invest 932 billion won ($806 million) over the next four years for combating illegal fishing, as well as increasing the punishments for illegal fishing.

But perhaps the strongest reaction was Seoul's decision that its coast guards will from now on carry guns and are authorized to fire if necessary when dealing with illegal fishing activities.

It is not uncommon internationally for marine police to use force to intimidate or enforce expulsion. In most cases, the maritime law enforcement officers open fire when the perpetrators try to escape or the vessel does not accept examination.

In a 2006 incident a Japanese fishing boat ignored a warning and tried to escape from a Russian patrol ship. The Russian border guards fatally shot one of the Japanese crew.

Force is often necessary because civilian vessels or fishing boats are often used in smuggling, drug trafficking, or even for military intelligence purposes.

During the Cold War, all sorts of ocean fishing vessels and tugs from the Soviet Union used to trail behind American aircraft carriers. Chinese naval maneuvers often encounter many "foreign observers."

What one should ponder is why a simple criminal case can touch so many people's nerves, and in particular, provoke such over-reaction from South Koreans?

We have already seen in the past how minor civil disputes have too often turned into major Sino-South Korea, Sino-Japan or Japan-South Korea diplomatic events.

The leaders of these three countries are seeking to promote regional economic integration. Their academics are discussing a "Non-Western style East Asia Cultural Circle." But we should seriously consider whether or not, under the current mutual mistrust of their people, such an alliance can actually be carried out.

The South Korean coast guards will now be carrying guns when enforcing their duty. So what?

Read the original article in Chinese

Photo - Bruce Tuten

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Society

Big Brother For The People: India's CCTV Strategy For Cracking Down On Police Abuse

"There is nothing fashionable about installing so many cameras in and outside one’s house," says a lawyer from a Muslim community. And yet, doing this has helped members of the community prove unfair police action against them.

A woman is walking in the distance while a person holds a military-style gun close up

Survellance and tight security at the Lal Chowk area in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India on October 4, 2022

Sukanya Shantha

MUMBAI — When sleuths of the National Investigating Agency suddenly descended on human rights defender and school teacher Abdul Wahid Shaikh’s house on October 11, he knew exactly what he needed to do next.

He had been monitoring the three CCTVs that are installed on the front and the rear of his house — a chawl in Vikhroli, a densely populated area in suburban Mumbai. The cameras told him that a group of men and women — some dressed in Mumbai police’s uniform and a few in civil clothes — had converged outside his house. Some of them were armed and few others with batons were aggressively banging at the door asking him to immediately let them in.

This was not the first time that the police had landed at his place at 5 am.

When the policemen discovered the CCTV cameras outside his house, they began hitting it with their batons, destroying one of them mounted right over the door. This action was captured by the adjacent CCTV camera. Shaikh, holed up in his house with his wife and two children, kept pleading with the police to stop destroying his property and simply show them an official notice.

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