Despite the Chinese aggression in the East Sea,
Vietnamese fisheries surveillance and coast guard authorities on June 19
continued to relentlessly demand China remove its drilling rig out of Vietnam’s
waters and respect international law, reported the Vietnam Fisheries
Surveillance Department.
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| A Chinese ship stands ready to ram into Vietnamese ship |
Facing obstinate and violent obstruction by the
Chinese side, Vietnamese ships still managed to get about 9 nautical miles near
rig Haiyang Shiyou-981, standing illegally in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone
and continental shelf since the beginning of May, the department said.
A large number of Chinese coast guard and patrol
ships and tugboats defending the rig kept on following and blocking Vietnamese
ships, driving them away.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities detected two
Chinese minesweepers operating about 18-21 nautical miles from the rig, a
Vietnam News Agency reporter at the site said.
At 13:00, a reconnaissance aircraft also flew
above Vietnam’s fisheries surveillance ships.
At the same time, about 38 Chinese fishing
ships, backed by two coast guard ships, coded 46102 and 44608, continued to
violently disturb Vietnamese fishing boats operating about 37 nautical miles
from the rig.
However, the Chinese aggression could not stop
Vietnamese fishermen from conducting their catching activities in their
traditional fishing ground in Vietnam’s waters.
At the beginning of May 2014, 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 the rig
at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 12 minutes
06 seconds east longitude, 80 miles deep into Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive
economic zone.
Despite Vietnam’s protest, China expanded its
scale of operation and moved the rig to 15 degrees 33 minutes 36 seconds north
latitude and 111 degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds east longitude, 60 nautical
miles deep inside Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.
China’s armed vessels have aggressively and
consistently fired high-power water cannons at and intentionally rammed against
Vietnamese public-service and civil ships, causing damage to many boats and
injuring many people on board.
Chinese ships have continuously encircled,
constrained and driven away Vietnamese fishing boats and even injured
Vietnamese fishermen, threatening their lives.
On May 26, Chinese ship 11209 sank a Vietnamese
fishing vessel while it was operating normally in its traditional fishing
ground near Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago.
Source: VNA
