China’s oil rig Haiyang
Shiyou-981, illegally stationed in Vietnamese waters, on June 10 moved
east-southeast to an unfixed position, according to the Vietnam Fisheries
Surveillance Department.
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China violates Vietnam's sovereignty by
positioning its oil rig in Vietnam's waters
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As many as 43 Chinese
fishing ships, backed by two coast guard vessels, continued to aggressively
encircle Vietnamese fishing boats when they were operating in their traditional
fishing grounds around the rig’s area.
China ’s ships even tried
into make it look like they were being rammed by Vietnamese boats, by sailing
past them and then suddenly reversing into them.
Throughout the day, China
maintained a presence of 38 coast guard vessels, 13 cargo ships, 19 tugboats
and six warships organised in groups around the rig at distances of 7-8 and
9-11 nautical miles away.
The Chinese ships were
ready to ram against and fire water cannons at Vietnam ’s fisheries
surveillance vessels in order to push them away from the rig.
Despite the Chinese
aggression, Vietnamese ships persistently stayed at about 30-40 nautical miles
from the rig to continue their normal activities in their fishing grounds,
oppose the unacceptable acts of Chinese ships, and request China to withdraw
its rig from Vietnam’s waters.
At the beginning of May,
China illegally dispatched the rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 as well as a large fleet
of armed vessels, military ships and aircraft to Vietnam’s waters and
positioned it at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude and 111
degrees 12 minutes 06 seconds east longitude, 80 miles deep inside Vietnam’s
continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.
On May 26, Chinese ships
sank a fishing boat belonging to Da Nang fishermen operating in the traditional
fishing grounds near Vietnam ’s Hoang Sa archipelago.
On June 1, Chinese ships
seriously damaged ship 2016 of the Vietnam Coast Guard, causing holes on its
side.
On June 7, Chinese ships
deliberately rammed into Vietnam’s fisheries surveillance ship KN-635, causing
more damage.
Source: VNA/VNN
