South China Sea: Fears of conflict surge as China accuses Vietnam of ramming coast guard
CHINA has accused Vietnam of ramming one of its coast guard ships in the disputed South China Sea.
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The incident happened around midnight on Thursday according to South China Morning Post. The Chinese coast guard released a statement late Friday outlining their version of events. Spokesman Zhang Jun said: “It rammed into our coastguard ship 4301 and sunk, all eight of the crew have been rescued.”
Mr Zhang claimed the crew was returned to Vietnamese authorities after confessing to illegally entering Chinese waters.
Mr Zhang explained: “We have urged Vietnam to take measures to avoid similar incidents from happening in light of the increasingly frequent illegal fishing activities in Xisha waters.”
Xisha is the Chinese world for the Paracel Islands, which it disputes with Vietnam.
Taiwan also claims the islands, due to officially claiming all territory held or claimed by China.
Mr Zhang insisted: “China’s coastguards will also step up control in curbing these illegal activities.”
Vietnam has rejected Beijing’s line on how the events unfolded.
Hanoi’s foreign ministry claimed: “The Chinese vessel committed an act that violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago and threatened the lives and damaged the property and legitimate interests of Vietnamese fishermen.”
Hoang Sa is the Vietnamese name for the islands.
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The ministry said it contacted Beijing to lodge an official complaint.
Vietnam Fisheries Society said all fishermen were picked by the Chinese vessel and transferred to two nearby Vietnamese vessels.
Beijing claims almost all of the disputed waterways of the South China Sea.
Various claimants have encouraged fishermen to fish in the disputed waters.
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This is an attempt to strengthen claims.
But it has led to concerns of overfishing.
As per South China Morning Post, Beijing has had other fishing disputes in the vast waterways.
In the North Natuna Sea which borders the sea, there has been incidents with Indonesian fishermen.
Jakarta has attempted to play down the incidents.
Critics have accused China of being the aggressor and violating Indonesia’s sovereign rights.
In January, around 30 Chinese vessels were forced to retreat to the border of Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
This came after a visit from Indonesian President Jokko Widdodo.
In a press release, Mr Widdodo explained: “I am here to ensure the enforcement of our sovereign rights over the maritime natural resources in our EEZ.”