SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Tuesday summoned China’s ambassador to protest what is says was the ramming and sinking of a South Korean coast guard vessel by Chinese fishing boats. The sinking happened Friday when coast guard officers were trying to stop about 40 Chinese fishing boats from suspected illegal fishing off South Korea’s west coast. Eight other coast guard officers had boarded a Chinese boat for an inspection, the coast guard said in a statement. Violent clashes have occurred in recent years between South Korea’s coast guard and Chinese fishing boats venturing farther from their increasingly barren home waters. Late last month, three Chinese fishermen died after a fire erupted when South Korean coast guard officers threw “flashbang” grenades into their boat.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 11, 2016 03:42 UTC