Vietnam protests Paracel assault
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Vietnam has protested the act of a Chinese ship which harried two Vietnamese fishing vessels in the waters of the Paracel Islands on July 7.
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said yesterday that the act violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands and jurisdiction in the East Sea.
China, Taiwan and Vietnam each claim the Paracel Islands as their sovereign territory.
Ministry spokesman Luong said the July 7 incident ran counter to the spirit of humane treatment of fishermen, international law and the spirit of the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of marine issues between Vietnam and China, as well as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.
Vietnamese agencies reported that the Chinese ship, coded 306, chased the Vietnamese vessels as they fished their regular grounds in the archipelago.
The Chinese crew then boarded the vessels, searched them, beat their crew and damaged and stole property, said Vietnamese officials.
Luong said an official protest over the act had been made to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi. The Vietnamese have requested that the Chinese launch a serious investigation and deal severely with the guilty party, as well as compensate the Vietnamese fishermen, and prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
