Vietnam requests China to investigate incident related to Vietnamese fishing vessel in Hoang Sa
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On June 10, the Vietnam’s fishing boat QNg 96416 TS while moving about 7 nautical miles the south of Lincoln Island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago was approached by a steel vessel plated 4006 and a motorboat of China, causing big waves that made 16 fishermen and many objects on the Vietnamese boat to fall into the sea. The Vietnamese trawler was about to sink.
Some people on the Chinese vessel and motorboat got on to the Vietnamese boat to pump water out and brought the Vietnamese fishermen back to the boat. They then forced the captain of the Vietnamese boat to fingerprint some documents in foreign languages and took away a large volume of seafood, fishing tools and equipment from the QNg 96416 TS.
Immediately on June 10, the Consular Department under the Foreign Ministry and the Vietnam Embassy in Beijing contacted the Chinese side and affirmed Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago. The agencies also requested the Chinese side to investigate the incident and inform the investigation’s results to authorized Vietnamese agencies for coordinating to address the incident.
On June 12, the fishing boat QNg96416TS and all fishermen on board safely landed in Sa Ky, Quang Ngai Province. The fishermen are now under quarantine in Quang Ngai’s Binh Son medical centre in accordance with the COVID-19 prevention regulations.
Currently, the competent agencies of Vietnam are working to collect and verify information about the incident and will continue to contact the Chinese side to protect the national sovereignty and Vietnamese fishermen’s legitimate rights and interests.
