Representatives of some organisations in the central province of Quang Ngai on May 12 gave assistance to the Coast Guard Region 2 and a Ly Son islander whose fishing boat was damaged by Chinese forces recently.

The delegation, led by head of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)’s Quang Ngai chapter Le Viet Chu, presented 110 million VND (more than 5,200 USD) in cash to the coastguard force, based at the province’s Ky Ha port.

Colonel Nguyen Quang Trung, Chief Commander of the Coast Guard Region 2, said the situation in the East Sea is getting tense due to China’s illegal placement of its oil rig in waters of Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. He affirmed his officers’ determination to safeguard the country’s sea and island sovereignty.

Later, the delegation visited fisherman Nguyen Van Loc in An Vinh commune, Ly Son island district.

On May 7, Loc’s fishing boat QNg 96416-TS, with 16 fishermen on board, was chased and attacked by a Chinese warship and a vessel of the China fisheries administration force in an area about 15 nautical miles south of Linh Con Island in Da Nang’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago, and some 70 nautical miles east of the site where China illegally positioned its oil rig inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.

The VFF chapter supported Loc with 10 million VND while the Quang Ngai Fishermen Support Fund gave him 400 million VND (19,000 USD) as part of its aid covering entire boat repair expenses.-VNA