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As maritime tensions with neighbors including Japan , Vietnam and the Philippines continue to simmer, China has a fresh grievance with a somewhatunexpected antagonist: North Korea. On May 8 the isolatedauthoritarian regime detained 28 Chinese fishermen in the YellowSea and demanded payments of as much as $63,000 for each of thethree vessels held. On Monday, the three boats returned to theChinese port city of Dalian with no apparent payment of ransom. Butthe fishermen's lengthy detention and stories of abuse thathave emerged after their release have fueled anger in China and asense that North Korea doesn't respect its only major ally."People are really upset. This didn't show North Koreanfriendship towards China," says Yan Xuetong, dean of theInstitute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua Universityin Beijing. "They kept them for too long and didn'treturn them as quickly as possible." The fishermen were held for 13 days. The captains of their threeboats were pressed to sign documents in Korean that indicated theyhad sailed into North Korean waters, which they argue wasincorrect, according to Chinese press reports. Upon release thefishermen discovered their boats had largely been stripped of cash,valuable electronics and even toiletries, Wang Lijie, captain ofone of the boats, told the 21st Century Business Herald , a Chinese newspaper. Many of them had their clothes taken aswell, returning to port in their underwear. Wang said they had beendeprived of sufficient food and some of them had been beaten bytheir captors, who appeared to be members of the North Koreanmilitary. Wang told the newspaper that a cook who was angered bythe North Koreans using a Chinese flag to cart off a radar waslater beaten by three soldiers who tore open his lip. The fishermenunderwent a medical check upon their release; three reportedheadaches and one a stomach ache, the state-run Xinhua News Servicereported, but no serious injuries. ( PHOTOS: Chinese Tourists in North Korea ) Online, Chinese sentiment towards North Korea has run highlynegative in recent days. "There's no point in helping acountry like this," wrote one user of the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service. "Take anyexcess grain and throw it in the sea, just don't give it tothem." In recent years China has been a key source of foodand energy aid to the impoverished country, as well as allowing itto run significant trade deficits. Beijing has also regularlyordered the repatriation of North Koreans who cross into northeastChina for food, work or a chance to travel on to South Korea.Despite the likelihood they will face severe punishment upon theirreturn to North Korea, China treats them as "economicmigrants" rather than refugees in need of protection. Suchpolicies are driven by the Chinese desire for stability in NorthKorea. The Chinese government fears that a collapse of the regimein Pyongyang could send millions of refugees streaming intonortheast China and lead to a unified Korea that could see Americantroops stationed on the Chinese border. China's leadership appears unlikely to break with the NorthKorean regime over this episode, despite public anger. Beijing hasbeen a key supporter of Kim Jong Un, who assumed power in Pyongyangafter the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December. AlthoughChina went along with a U.N. Security Council vote to condemn NorthKorea's failed satellite launch last month, Chinese PresidentHu Jintao also sent a message of congratulations to Kim for his promotion to aleadership role in the North Korean Workers Party. Last weekChina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on North Korea toensure the safety of the detained Chinese fishermen, and this weeksaid that the Ministry of Fisheries would carry out aninvestigation, but it declined to condemn North Korean actions.While the Global Times , a tabloid run by the Communist Party, described the abuses of theChinese fishermen, in a subsequent story it blamed foreign media for using the incident to stir updisharmony between Beijing and Pyongyang. "People are veryunhappy with the North Korean government's treatment of ourown people," says Tsinghua University's Yan. "Butat this moment the negative impact, it's hard to make ajudgment how much it will be." MORE: A Chinese TV Anchor Claims China Owns the Philippines, as SpatHeats Up the South China Sea. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Eas Optical Tag , China Anti Theft Display Stand, and more. For more , please visit Eas Security Tag today!
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