Vietnamese fishermen say attacked
by 3 Chinese ships off Hoang Sa (Paracels)
BY
A Vietnamese fishing boat from the central province of Quang Ngai was operating in the Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea on Friday when it was reportedly attacked by three Chinese ships, local authorities said.
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These Chinese ships got close to the QNg 96507 TS, with 16 fishermen on board, when it was fishing off Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, the authorities of the province’s Ly Son District said on Saturday, citing a report from the attacked boat’s captain,Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper reported.
Crew members of the foreign ships, which were in white and coded with 46102, 45101 and 37102, got on board the local boat, with AK assault rifles and electric batons in their hands, said captain Nguyen Loi.
These Chinese then beat a number of the fishermen with their weapons, causing injuries to them, Loi said.
The foreigners also smashed navigation equipment and fishing tools on the local ship, and took away all the aquatic products from it.
Many fishermen had managed to photograph the illegal acts of the foreigners during their attack, Loi said.
After the attackers left, the fishermen repaired their ship and returned to An Hai Commune, Ly Son District, he added.
After receiving a report from the An Hai Commune Fisheries Trade Union, the Vietnam Fisheries Trade Union (VFTU) on Friday evening issued a statement vehemently objecting to the attack as well as recent other attacks by Chinese ships on Vietnamese fishermen operating in Vietnamese waters.
The VFTU demanded that Chinese authorities take measures to stop such wrongful acts that have affected normal operations of Vietnamese fishermen and seriously threatened their lives and property.
The VFTU also requested that relevant Vietnamese agencies investigate aggressive actions Chinese ships direct at Vietnamese fishermen, and take effective measures to protect lives and assets of fishermen.
The Friday attack is the latest in a series of similar cases that have happened to Vietnamese fishermen and their vessel in recent times.
On July 9 night, a fishing boat coded QNg 90559, also from Quang Ngai, was reportedly scared away and sank by two Chinese vessels when the local vessel was fishing off Hoang Sa (Paracels) with 11 fishermen on board, local authorities said.
The Chinese ships approached the local vessel, directed high-powered lights at the Vietnamese boat and used loudspeakers to demand it to leave the waters, said Truong Van Duc, the boat owner.
Duc ran his ship away, fearing a possible attack, but was run after by the foreign ships, which eventually rammed the fishing boat to sink at 11:00 pm, according to the report.
The Chinese ships then left the scene, leaving all the 11 fishermen floating at sea while clinging to the lifebuoys from their sunken ships.
The fishermen were rescued and taken ashore after several other Vietnamese fishing boats found them at about 2:00 am on the next day.
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