Chinese fishermen's release demanded

BEIJING, July 5 (UPI) -- Protesters in Beijing demanded Sunday that Indonesia release 75 Chinese fishermen detained two weeks ago, observers said.

The state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported two Chinese men and a woman staged a brief demonstration in front of Indonesia's embassy in Beijing, unfurling a banner that read, "Deeply mourning for the fishermen killed in Nansha! The Nansha Islands belong to Chinese territory forever, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all fishermen."

An Indonesian embassy official, Ouyang Yuping, met with the protesters, accepted their banner and told Xinhua the demonstrators were farmers who had come to Beijing from Jiangxi province. The demonstrators were persuaded to leave by police, the news agency said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Indonesia seized eight fishing boats from the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region June 20 while they were in China's traditional fishing grounds off the Nansha islands on the South China Sea.

Qin said China has demanded the immediate release of the 75 men and their vessels.