Malaysia arrests 60 Chinese citizens, 6 vessels for trespassing

Photo Credits: Getty images

The officials representing Malaysia’s maritime declared on Saturday about arresting 60 Chinese citizens and seized 6 Chinese-registered fishing vessels on the account of trespassing into the South East Asian country’s waters.

From 2016 to 2019, Malaysia has recorded 89 incursions invoked by Chinese coastguards and navy ships, triggered during the rising conflicts between United States and China due to the claims of Beijing over most of the resource rich South China Sea, connecting to a major trade route.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) revealed the fishing vessels and crew were held back on Friday during their on-going operation of the coast of the southern state of Johor.

MMEA regional director, Mohd Zulfadli Nayan stated in an official statement, “Further checks found that all the vessels registered in Qinhuangdoa, China, were manned by six captains and 54 crew who are Chinese nationals aged between 31 and 60 years.”

MMEA stated the vessels, which did not have cargo while being held back, were en-routing to Mauritania, but halted on the way citing some malfunction. Some time ago, during the year, China had spent a research ship to survey in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, during a stand-off with a Malaysian oil exploration vessel in the vicinity of disputed waters.