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United States Coast Guard says boardings of Chinese fishing vessels in South Pacific legal

The U.S. Coast Guard has rejected remarks by a Chinese diplomat that its recent boardings of Chinese fishing boats in the Pacific Islands along with regional cops are illegal, stating the joint patrols are at the wish of Pacific nations to protect seaside fisheries.

reported last month that six Chinese fishing boats were found to be breaching Vanuatu's fisheries law after being checked by local police who were on board the first U.S. Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific Islands nation.

China's Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong, in a letter circulated by the Chinese embassy on Friday, stated using shiprider contracts between the U.S. and Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea to carry out law enforcement activities versus China's fishing vessels was an offense of international law.

In the letter, Wang claimed the agreements are not binding on China's fishing fleet.

China is not required to accept the police of nations other than seaside states for fishing activities in their special economic zones, the letter said

U.S. Coast Guard Back Admiral Michael Day on Wednesday stated. the Chinese ambassador's declaration was unreliable and the bilateral shiprider contracts adhered to global law.

We do these boardings at the wish of those host countries who welcome us to board, to work with them collaboratively in protecting their Exclusive Economic Zones, he said at a press conference in Honolulu to mark the return of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane after its Pacific Islands patrol.

A totally free and open Indo-Pacific is asserted upon the following of worldwide rules and standards and laws, and I am happy to state the coast guard is adhering to all global law and these are legal boardings.

Commander Nicole Tesoniero said shiprider contracts with Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea had resulted in 23 boardings of fishing boats running in the far reaches of the respective countries' exclusive economic zones, with 12 violations discovered by local police.

The targeting of vessels within the unique economic zones along with the enforcement actions were all dictated by our partners, she said.

In an interview in Sydney, Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said China's fishing fleet in the South Pacific need to be viewed as a maritime militia, based upon its activities in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

Those fishing vessels are the maritime militia, Aquilino stated.

If it were to get to a time or location where we have a. crisis, and you take a look at Scarborough Shoal or the Senkakus, those. fishing vessels are fishing and then they will handle an objective. of pressurizing the host country or the nation whose special. financial zone they are running in, he stated.

In the letter, Ambassador Wang said China exercised rigorous. guidance over its far-off water fishing fleets, had a zero. tolerance attitude towards prohibited fishing, and respected the. sovereign rights of seaside states.

The U.S. Coast Guard patrols come after Vanuatu and. Solomon Islands, Pacific Island nations with close ties to. China, blocked a U.S. Coast Guard vessel from concerning port to. refuel in 2022 and 2023 as it undertook a patrol for prohibited. fishing on behalf of the Pacific Islands Online forum local block.

Australia, New Zealand and Britain have likewise stepped up navy. patrols for prohibited fishing in collaboration with Pacific Islands. nations, a number of whom do not have militaries or boats to keep an eye on. coastal waters and unique financial zones spanning millions of. kilometres.