BEIJING -- The China Coast Guard has drafted new provisions on the handling of criminal cases, stipulating in detail procedures that could enable the CCG to refer the cases of Japanese fishers and others detained to China for prosecution.
Announced on Oct. 26, the draft comprises 334 provisions, including detailed procedures on the CCG's authority to make arrests and send detainees to prosecutors in China.
The new rules are expected to supplement the Coast Guard Law, which was put into effect in February to strengthen China's protection of maritime interests, and come at a time when the CCG has been seen making routine intrusions into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
The new provisions more clearly set forth the CCG's authority as a maritime law enforcement agency, stipulating its ability to refer cases to prosecutors, and other powers that had not been clearly defined under the China's current criminal procedures law.
The draft also provides that the CCG can use weapons and other tools to subdue and detain suspects when met with "violent resistance" or "violent criminal acts" -- an augmentation of the earlier Coast Guard Law that empowered the CCG to use weapons to defend their national sovereignty against violations by foreign entities and individuals.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
