US coastguard rejects China claim it illegally boarded Chinese fishing boats in Pacific: ‘host nations invite us’

China’s New Zealand envoy had called the US use of ‘shiprider’ pacts with Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea a violation of international law

A US coastguard rear admiral on Wednesday said the envoy’s statement on ‘law enforcement activities against China’s fishing vessels’ was inaccurate

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Vanuatu fisheries and police officials board a vessel in February alongside a US Coast Guard boarding team. Photo: US Coast Guard Pacific Area

Published: 12:33pm, 10 Apr 2024Updated: 2:59pm, 10 Apr 2024

The United States’ coastguard has rejected comments by a Chinese diplomat that its recent boardings of Chinese fishing boats in the Pacific alongside local police are illegal, saying the joint patrols are at the behest of Pacific nations to protect coastal fisheries.

Six Chinese fishing boats were reportedly found to be violating Vanuatu’s fisheries law last month after being inspected by local police who were on board the first US Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific island nation.

China’s Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong, in a letter circulated by the Chinese embassy on Friday, said the use of so-called shiprider agreements between the US and Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea to “carry out law enforcement activities against China’s fishing vessels” was a violation of international law.

In the letter, Wang claimed the agreements are not binding on China’s fishing fleet.

“China is not obliged to accept the law enforcement of countries other than coastal states for fishing activities in their exclusive economic zones,” the letter said.

US coastguard Rear Admiral Michael Day on Wednesday said the Chinese ambassador’s statement was inaccurate and the bilateral shiprider agreements complied with international law.

A boarding team from US Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane accompanied by a Vanuatu police officer talk to a member of crew on a fishing vessel in the South Pacific Ocean in February. Photo: US Coast Guard Pacific Area

“We do these boardings at the behest of those host nations who invite us to board, to work with them collaboratively in protecting their exclusive economic zones,” he said at a press conference in Honolulu to mark the return of the US Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane after its Pacific islands patrol.