Fisherman convicted of homicide after collision at sea

A fisherman from Tangshan, Hebei province, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve after being found guilty of intentional homicide in a marine collision that killed five people, according to a court in Qinhuangdao, Hebei.

The incident took place in December 2019. Li Hongjun, a fisherman from Yingkou, Liaoning province, drove his wooden fishing boat to fish in the waters off the coast of Tangshan with five people he hired.

At around 7 pm, it was already dark. When Li was waiting for the tide to return to shore, a steel fishing boat suddenly arrived. After a quarrel, Li drove his boat away, but the steel boat pursued and made contact with Li's boat. "The boat hit the tail of my boat, and when I tried to turn left, it didn't work. My boat suddenly flipped and capsized," Li was quoted as saying by ThePaper.cn, a media outlet.

Li and his crew all fell into the water. Li was rescued, but the other five crew members died in the incident.

Wang Ruipeng, a local fisherman in Tangshan, was the driver of the steel boat. After he learned Li's boat was in the area where his fishing nets were located, Wang confronted Li.

When Li drove away, Li's boat brushed against Wang's, causing damage to the railings. Wang then chased after Li and rammed his boat, leading to the capsizing according to the verdict issued by the Qinhuangdao Intermediate People's Court.

Wang's boat had a steel structure, a longer hull, larger tonnage, and its main engine power was twice that of Li's, according to media reports.

As a professional with many years of experience in operating boats at sea, Wang should have known his behavior could result in the flipping of the boat, but he still persisted in his pursuit. Wang's behavior thus constituted the crime of intentional homicide, the court ruled.

The collision was first handled as a traffic accident, with both parties found responsible. But as Li publicized the case on the internet last June and accused Wang of being a "marine bully", the case received wide media attention and was transferred to a higher court. The Qinhuangdao court heard the case in April.

During his trial, Wang apologized to the victims' families and Li. The court ruled Wang's claim he was only trying to "reason with" Li was not convincing.

Li told media he would appeal the ruling as he thought the sentence was too light, given that five people died in the incident.

Under Chinese law, a suspended death sentence means the convicted will not be executed, and their sentence can be reduced to life imprisonment if they have no new crimes during the two-year probation. In general, their sentence will be further cut if they perform better in prison.

It was not clear if Wang would appeal the result.