South Korea’s coastguard has for the first time opened fire on Chinese fishing trawlers, which are increasingly straying into Seoul’s territorial waters amid growing Chinese demand for fresh seafood.
韩国海警首次向中国拖网渔船开火。随着中国对新鲜海鲜的需求不断增长，中国渔船越来越多地越界进入韩国领海。
Tuesday’s incident comes less than a month after Seoul warned it would use a “more aggressive” firearms policy in encounters with illegal fishing vessels. This was prompted by the sinking of a 4.5-tonne Korean coastguard ship that was rammed while trying to intercept a trawler.
周二的事件发生不到一个月前，首尔方面警告称，它将在遭遇非法渔船时采用“更为果敢”的武器政策。这一警告的导火线是，一艘4.5吨的韩国海警船在试图拦截一艘拖网渔船时被撞沉。
The coastguard seized two trawlers after firing about 700 M60 machine gun rounds at a fleet of 30 fishing ships South Korean authorities say had “rushed” its vessels. No one was killed or injured in the incident, which coastguard official Kim Jung-shik said was sparked by the threatening behaviour of the fishermen.
韩国海警用M60机枪向一支30艘渔船的船队——韩方称这些渔船“冲撞”了韩方海警船——发射大约700发子弹后，扣押了两艘拖网渔船。这起事件没有造成人员死伤；韩国海警官员金正植（音，Kim Jung-shik）表示，事件是由渔民们的威胁行为引发的。
“Initially, we sent warnings but they kept approaching us, making the situation serious,” Mr Kim told Yonhap, South Korea’s state news agency. “I thought that if we tolerated their resistance further, the coastguard men would be in jeopardy. So we used the machine gun.”
“最初我方发出警告，但他们不断逼近我们，使情况变得严重，”金正植对韩国官方的韩联社(Yonhap)表示。 “我想，如果我方进一步容忍他们的抵抗，海警人员将陷入危险处境。所以我方动用了机枪。”
The incident in the Yellow Sea, west of the port of Incheon, is likely to be another blow to relations between Seoul and Beijing, which have been strained in recent months following a decision to place a US anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea.
在仁川港以西的黄海发生的这起事件，很可能给韩中关系造成又一个打击。在韩国决定在境内部署美国反弹道导弹系统后，韩中关系在近几个月本已紧张。
In response to the incident, China’s ministry of foreign affairs expressed “strong dissatisfaction” in a statement yesterday. “We have lodged multiple solemn representations to Korea on its coast guards’ violent enforcement techniques.”
针对这起事件，中国外交部昨日在一份声明中表示“强烈不满”。“我们已就韩国海警暴力执法问题多次提出严正交涉。”
Seoul authorities say the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense platform, or Thaad, is aimed at preventing strikes from North Korea, which recently conducted a fifth nuclear test. Beijing views the deployment as a threat to its own nuclear deterrent and an attempt to further US surveillance of China.
首尔方面称，“末段高空区域防御系统”（THAAD，简称：萨德）旨在防范朝鲜的打击；最近朝鲜进行了第五次核试验。北京方面则认为，这一部署对中国的核威慑是一种威胁，是延伸美国对华监视的一种企图。
The clash with the South Korean coastguard is at least the third time this year Chinese fishermen have been attacked by foreign law enforcement vessels. In March, Argentina sank a Chinese fishing boat it alleged was fishing illegally in its waters, while in June Indonesia injured one sailor after opening fire in a similar incident.
与韩国海警之间的冲突，是今年以来中国渔民至少第三次受到外国执法船的攻击。3月，阿根廷击沉了中国的一艘渔船，称该船当时在其水域非法捕鱼。6月，印尼在一起类似事件中开火，打伤一名水手。
Fishing disputes are common throughout Asia, where fishermen have become proxies for a growing number of maritime disputes, presenting an array of potential flashpoints between countries with overlapping claims. In recent years, many countries have mobilised government vessels traditionally used for maritime law enforcement to reinforce their territorial claims.
渔业纠纷在整个亚洲很常见，有关国家的渔民在越来越多的海洋争端中成为代理人，在主权主张重叠的国家之间形成一连串潜在闪点。近年来，许多国家动用传统上用于海上执法的公务船强化领土声索。
Meanwhile, use of fishing boats to test other nations’ claims has been increasing. Analysts say some Chinese fishing trawlers are operated by China’s “maritime militia”, crewed in all likelihood by volunteers taking orders from the military.
同时，使用渔船试探其他国家主权声索的情况也在增加。分析人士称，中国的一些拖网渔船由中国的“海上民兵”操作，船员极有可能是听从军方命令的志愿者。