China boats violate Vietnam sea, cut cables again
Print A Chinese fishing ship accompanied by two Chinese fishery administration vessels on Thursday morning violated Vietnamese sovereignty and deliberately cut exploration cables belonging to a Vietnamese state-owned ship, just days after a similar incident.
The Viking 2 owned by Vietnam Oil & Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) had its cables cut at 6 am (Hanoi time) today (Thursday) when it was exploring for oil at 6o47’5”N, 109o17’5”E, which lies totally within Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf.
Vietnamese foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga told a press conference in Hanoi Thursday afternoon that the three Chinese ships cruised over the Viking 2’s prow and sped up when the Vietnamese ship was conducting seismic surveys.
Although Viking 2 fired warning signals, the 6226 intentionally entered Vietnamese exploration area.
Viking 2’s exploration cables then became tangled in the specialized cable-cutting equipment belonging to the Chinese 6226 ship.
This hindered Viking 2’s operations.
Viking II vessel - archived photo
After that, two Chinese fishery administration vessels numbered 311 and 303 arrived on the scene and, together with some other ships, rescued the 6226 vessel.
Chinese fishery admin vessel 311 - archived photo
Chinese fishery admin vessel 311 - archived photo
Chinese fishery admin vessel 303 - archived photo
According to spokeswoman Nga, such actions are deliberate and obviously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty and caused serious economic damage.
Nga added that the Chinese ships violated the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and “the acts went against common conceptions” of leaders of both countries in maintaining peace and stability on the East Sea.
Noticeably, this incident came just days after three Chinese marine surveillance vessels entered Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf and cut the exploration cables of Binh Minh 02 ship on May 26, also owned by PetroVietnam.
The actions caused East Sea disputes to become more strained, Nga stressed.
“China’s systematic action is aimed at turning the undisputed area [belonging to Vietnam] into an area under dispute in order to materialize China’s nine-dotted line [U-shaped line] claim in the East Sea. This is unacceptable”, Nga said.
Vietnam demands the Chinese side to immediately stop all actions violating Vietnam’s sovereignty and jurisdiction and compensate for losses, Nga stressed.
Also on Thursday afternoon, representatives from the Vietnamese foreign ministry met with Chinese counterparts to protest against the violation and to highlight Vietnam’s standpoint over East Sea issues.
| “China’s nine-dotted line" or “U-shaped line” in the East Sea is completely groundless and runs counter to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of which China is a member. The claim has violated the exclusive economic zones and continental shelves of a number of countries in the region, including Vietnam, and prompted protests from these countries. China’s attempt to materialize this claim is in fact increasing tension in the region.” |
Following are some photos of the latest incident when some Chinese ships cut cables of the Viking II on June 9 morning:
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