中国就撞船事件向韩国索赔

中国周二对周末中国渔民和韩国海岸警卫队在黄海冲突、造成一名渔民死亡的事件表示“严重关切”，并要求赔偿。

上周六，一艘中国渔船冲撞一艘韩国巡逻舰后倾覆，中方一名船员死亡，另一名船员失踪。四名韩国海警在试图逮捕这些渔民时受伤。图为韩国巡逻舰。

这是韩国官员报告事件以来北京第一次正式置评。据韩国官员说，周六中国一艘渔船冲撞韩国一艘巡逻舰后倾覆，中方一名船员死亡，另一名船员失踪。
韩国官员说，包括这条船在内，当时约有50艘船只正在韩国海域非法捕鱼。韩国官员还指责部分其他渔民用金属管、铁锹和棍棒与韩国海警斗殴。
这起冲突之前，9月份曾有一艘中国渔船与日本海上保安厅一艘船只在东海争议岛屿附近相撞，日本扣留中国这艘渔船及其船员，引发两国间激烈的外交争端。
中国官方媒体曾低调处理周六中韩冲突，目的似乎是避免在朝鲜上个月炮袭韩国一处岛屿、引发地区紧张之后，让紧张局势进一步升级。
但中国于周二打破沉默，而此前朝鲜刚刚宣布它不会报复韩国周一的一次火炮演练，并将允许联合国调查人员调查其核设施。
外交部发言人姜瑜在北京的一次例行记者会上说：“中方对这一事件表示严重关切。”
她说，中方已向韩方“提出严正交涉”，要求韩方全力搜救失踪渔民，严惩肇事者，赔偿中方人员和财产损失，并杜绝此类事件再次发生。
她也提到，韩方在事发后立即派出救助船和直升机赶往现场，且目前仍在搜救失踪渔民。
但其措辞强硬的表态有可能使韩国和其他邻国更加担心，中国是在蓄意派遣渔船前往外国或争议海域，以帮助满足国内的要求。
据韩国海洋警察说，每年都有300多艘中国渔船在韩国海域非法捕鱼而被扣留。
2008年，韩国海警与正在韩国海域捕鱼的中国渔民冲突，一名海警死亡，另六人受伤。
过去一年，中国还反复申明对几乎全部南中国海的领土主张，引起多个对南海有部分领土主张的东南亚国家的警觉。

China expressed 'grave concern' and demanded compensation Tuesday over a weekend clash between Chinese fishermen and South Korean coast guards in the Yellow Sea which resulted in the death of one of the fishermen.
It was Beijing's first official comment since South Korean officials reported that a Chinese fishing boat had capsized Saturday after ramming a South Korean patrol ship, leaving one Chinese crew member dead and another missing.
The Chinese boat was among about 50 that were fishing illegally in South Korean waters, according to South Korean officials, who also accused some of the other fishermen of fighting the coast guards with metal pipes, shovels and clubs.
The clash follows a fierce diplomatic dispute between Japan and China in September that was triggered by Japan's detention of a Chinese fishing boat and its crew following a collision with a Japanese coast-guard vessel near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal website, WSJ.com.)
Chinese state media had played down Saturday's incident in an apparent effort not to escalate tensions in a region that has been on edge since a North Korean artillery raid on a South Korean island last month.
But China broke its silence Tuesday after North Korea announced that it would not retaliate against a South Korean artillery test Monday and would allow United Nations inspectors to examine its nuclear sites.
'The Chinese side expresses its grave concern about the incident,' Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
She said China had 'made solemn representations' to South Korea, and called on it to rescue the missing fishermen, punish the perpetrators, offer compensation for the loss of life and property, and ensure that such incidents do not happen again.
She did note that South Korea had immediately deployed rescue ships and helicopters to the scene, and that they were still searching for the missing fisherman.
However, her strongly worded statement could exacerbate concern in South Korea and among other neighbors that China is deliberately sending its fishing boats into foreign or disputed waters to help meet domestic demand.
More than 300 Chinese fishing boats are captured for fishing illegally in South Korean waters every year, according to South Korea's coast guard.
In 2008, one South Korean coast guard officer was killed and six others injured in a scuffle with Chinese fishermen fishing in South Korean waters.
Over the last year, China has also been reasserting its territorial claims to almost all of the South China Sea, alarming several Southeast Asian nations that claim parts of it.