Many
of the Chinese vessels that have been deployed to guard China’s illegal oil rig
in Vietnam’s waters since May 1 have rammed and fired water cannons at
Vietnamese fishing boats and assaulted Vietnamese fishermen many times, the
Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department has said.
Vietnamese fishing boat DNa 90152 is seen
several days before it was sunk by Chinese vessel 11209 in Vietnam's waters on
May 26, 2014.
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The oil rig
has been illegitimately positioned in the Vietnamese waters despite strong
protests from Vietnam.
Over 19 days
from May 7 to 26, these foreign vessels launched six such attacks on Vietnamese
fishing boats, injuring fishermen and causing damage to their property, the
department said.
On May 7, in
an area about 10 nautical miles north-northwest of Linh Con Island, part of
Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, a Vietnamese fishing boat, QNg 96416,
with 16 fishermen on board was attacked by Chinese vessel 1241.
The foreign
ship fired its water cannon at the local vessel and threw hammers, bolts and
bottles at it.
The Chinese
vessel also fired tracers to the Vietnamese ship and used tools to destroy the
local boat’s communication and navigation system.
Another Chinese
ship came from nowhere and crashed into the fishing ship, breaking its right
side and the glass windows of its cabin.
The total
damage was estimated at VND890 million (US$42,000).
Another case
happened on May 16 evening, when a Vietnamese fishing boat from central Quang
Ngai Province, QNg 90205 TS, was suddenly approached by Chinese vessel 306.
Many
crewmembers of the Chinese boat got aboard the Vietnamese ship and beat
Vietnamese fishermen, causing serious injuries to two of them, Nguyen Huyen Le
Anh and Nguyen Tan Hai.
They also
destroyed most of the assets on the ship.
At 9:00 pm
the same day, Vietnamese vessel QNg 95431, owned by Nguyen Van Tan, also of
Quang Ngai Province, was operating with six divers on board off Phu Lam Island,
part of Hoang Sa, when it was blocked by a Chinese vessel whose crewmembers
threw stones at it, causing some damage.
Also the same
night, another fishing boat from Quang Ngai, QNg 90045, with a crew of nine
suffered the same when it was fishing off Hoang Sa.
A
day later, Chinese vessel 21102 got close to another Vietnamese fishing boat
QNg 96011 TS with 13 fishermen on board. The Chinese side then took away many
assets and fishing tools worth VND50 million ($2,358) in total.
The attack
took place in an area about 31 nautical miles from Tri Ton Island of Vietnam’s
Hoang Sa archipelago.
Most
recently, at 4:00 pm on May 26, Chinese fishing boat 11209 crashed into
Vietnamese fishing ship DNa 90152, from the central city of Da Nang, with 10
fishermen on board.
The hard hit sank the local ship and some Vietnamese fishing boats operating
nearby managed to save all the 10 crew members.
The waters
where the Vietnamese ship sank are within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and
continental shelf and the traditional fishing ground of Vietnamese fishermen
near Hoang Sa.
On Tuesday, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to deliver a diplomatic note protesting China’s
attacks on Vietnamese fishermen in the East Vietnam Sea.
“Once again,
Vietnam demands that China stop inhuman acts that have seriously violated the
lives, property and legitimate interests of Vietnamese fishermen, respect
international law and strictly punish related individuals, not repeat similar
actions, and pay satisfactory compensation to the Vietnamese fishermen
affected,” the diplomatic note reads.
Source: tuoitrenews