As of May 20, China maintained the presence of more than 90 ships ofvarious kinds defending rig Haiyang Shiyou-981, several of which keptapproaching and attacking Vietnamese ships on their law enforcementmissions, according to the Vietnam Coast Guard High Command.
Meanwhile, some Chinese fishing vessels, which are built from iron andhave a capacity of above 300 tonnes, accompanied armed ships to hinderthe operations of Vietnamese boats, according to the force.
However, the Vietnam Coast Guard continued to persistently demandChina to recall its oil rig and ships out of Vietnam’s waters, saidthe force.
At 7:10 on May 20, as the Vietnam CoastGuard ship coded 4032 came about 6.4 nautical miles from the oil rig, itwas obstructed by six Chinese ships, coded 3401, 102, 21101, 32101,46001 and 37011.
At 8:05, three other Chinese shipscut in ahead of the Vietnam Coast Guard ship 8003, forcing it to stopits engine and start to float. Then at 9:20, the ship 8003 detected 69Chinese vessels defending the oil rig.
Since thebeginning of May, 2014, China boldly dispatched its HaiyangShiyou-981 as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships andaircraft to Vietnamese waters and positioned the rig at a location 80miles deep into the Vietnamese continental shelf and exclusive economiczone prescribed in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea.
China’s armed vessels aggressively firedhigh-power water cannons at, and intentionally rammed, Vietnamesepublic-service and civil ships, causing damage to many boats andinjuring many people on board.
China’s movesgravely violate international law, the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea (DOC), to which China is a signatory. Thisextremely dangerous action has been and is directly threatening peace,stability and maritime security and safety in the East Sea.-VNA