Chinese ships attack Vietnamese fishing boats again

A fishing boat from the central province of Quang Ngai was chased and attacked by Chinese ships on May 7 when it was operating in the regular fishing ground in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and suffered from damage to its sides and cabin.
A fishing boat from the central province of Quang Ngai was chased andattacked by Chinese ships on May 7 when it was operating in the regularfishing ground in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and suffered fromdamage to its sides and cabin.

According to LeKhuan, Vice Chairman of the fishing union of An Vinh commune in QuangNgai province’s Ly Son district, the boat QNg 96416-TS with 16 fishermenon board managed to return to Ly Son Island on May 9 morning.

The boat’s captain and owner, Nguyen Van Loc from Tay hamlet, An Vinhcommune, said the incidence happened when his boat was fishing at anarea about 15 nautical miles south of Linh Con Island, an island in DaNang’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago) and some 70 nautical miles eastof the site where China illegally positioned its oil rig insideVietnam’s exclusive economic zone. A Chinese warship suddenly appeared,fired warning flares and demanded Loc’s boat to stop. The fisherman saidhis boat had to snake its way to avoid the ship, but the Chinese vesselgot closer and soldiers on board threw many heavy objects includinghammers and big bolts at the fishing boat, breaking its cabin glasses.

Loc recalled that after nearly four hours ofchasing his boat, the Chinese warship called in another - a vessel ofthe Chinese fisheries administration force – to help. The Chinesefisheries administration ship rammed into the Vietnamese fishing boat,breaking its right side and the wall of the cabin, and then went away.The Chinese warship remained at the site. Water began to flow into Loc’sboat, but luckily, the crew members managed to repair some parts andget the boat back to the island.

ViceChairwoman of Ly Son district People’s Committee Pham Thi Huong saidlater that the Ly Son border station had made a record about the damageto the fishing boat estimated at around 300 million VND (14,280 USD).

Over recent time, there were many cases in whichfishing boats from Ly Son Island were chased and harassed by Chineseships in Hoang Sa waters and fishermen were taken captive illegally bythe Chinese side, while their properties and catches as well asequipment on their boats seized.-VNA

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