Hong Kong’s Ming Pao carries China News Agency’s report saying that on May 8, three Chinese fishing boats and 29 of their crews were kidnapped by unidentified North Koreans. The ransom demanded for their release has now been reduced to 900,000 yuan (US$142,400) from 1.2 million yuan (US$190,000)

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: China stays in close contact with North Korea on the incident of the seizure of the fishing boats and hopes that the issue will be resolved satisfactorily as soon as possible.China asks North Korea to ensure Chinese crews’ safety and lawful rights.

According to the report by www.cnr-yg.com, recently three Chinese fishing boats have been taken control by unidentified Koreans when they were fishing in Chinese maritime territory and 29 of the crew have been detained. At first, four fishing boats were seized, but one of them registered at Dalian Gulf has…