Guineans kill Chinese fishermen
By Guan Xiaopeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-17 23:56

Two Chinese fishermen were shot dead by seven Guineans in waters off the coast of Guinea on Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday.

Fan Ping and Wang Zhenyong, both from Northeast China's Liaoning Province, were the unsuspecting victims of the violence.

The drag-net fishing boat "Zhang Yuanyang 1," which belongs to the Dalian Changhai Ocean Fishing Company, acquired a licence from the Guinean Government and were conducting a legal fishing operation, according to an official with the Department of Consular Affairs of the ministry.

The incident occurred at 9:30 am local time. Seven Guineans, three of whom were in military uniforms and carrying guns, boarded the Chinese boat without permission and seized the boat's licence.

They then demanded 250 boxes of fish products on the boat.

Fan, captain of the boat, asked them to wait a moment as the men were busy fishing. The Guineans grew impatient after a while and began moving the boxes.

The robbery was resisted by the Chinese crew and one of the gunmen fired at them. Fan was killed immediately. Wan, the boat's chief engineer, died several hours later.

The seven Guineans then fled away on their patrol boat and threatened the Chinese from following them with a rocket launcher.

Two other Chinese fishing boats "Lianrun 8" and "Lianrun 9", which also belong to the company, were also robbed of about a hundred boxes of fish products by Guinean gunmen, according to the Dalian Daily.

After the incident, China's Ambassador to Guinea made an urgent appointment to meet Guinea's Minister of Co-operation.The Chinese Foreign Ministry also called on Guinea's Ambassador to China, urging the Guinean Government to clear up the incident and punish the robbers and murderers as soon as possible. Both Guinean officials condemned the robbery, according to Liu Jianchao, spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Guinean authorities promised to look into the incident immediately and inform relevant Chinese departments of the latest developments in the investigation. However, the Guinean Embassy in China refused to comment on Friday.

The Chinese Embassy in Guinea have sent staff to see the survivors.

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