Argentina's coast guard said it fired on a Chinese boat illegally fishing in its waters before embarking on an almost eight hour chase to capture it. The Chinese embassy in Argentina did not immediately provide a statement about the incident, which occurred Thursday after four other vessels also flying under a Chinese flag attempted to ram into coast guard boats. A decision was then made to "carry out machine-gun and cannon fire" and impede the vessel's ability to navigate, the coast guard said. In 2016, a Chinese fishing vessel with 32 crew members aboard was reportedly sunk by Argentine authorities after it attempted to flee to international waters. Earlier this month, the coast guard detained a Spanish ship carrying more than 705,000 pounds (320,000 kilos) of fish caught illegally.

Source: ABC News February 25, 2018 17:36 UTC