Việt Nam persists in maintaining peace and stability in the Tonkin Gulf

Spokesman Lê Dũng made the statement when he was asked about the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announcement earlier saying that Hainan Province-owned fishing vessels were robbed by Vietnamese armed ships while operating in the common fishing waters in the Tonkin Gulf on January 7.
He said that right after being informed by the Chinese side, the Vietnamese authorized agencies have immediately launched investigations into the case.
According to Mr. Lê Dũng, the initial finding showed that four Chinese fishing vessels and three Vietnamese fishing boats had hit each other because their equipment got intertwined while they were fishing at a location about 32 nautical miles to the southwest of Bạch Long Vỹ Island (or three nautical miles to the west of the demarcation line).
After handling the problem successfully, all these vessels resumed their normal fishing activities, the Spokesman said, adding that the Vietnamese agencies have asked the Chinese side to provide more related information.
Since Việt Nam and China signed the Tonkin Gulf Demarcation Agreement and the Tonkin Gulf Fishery Cooperation Agreement, the situation in the Tonkin Gulf has been improved considerably, Mr. Lê Dũng stressed.
He noted that the Vietnamese and Chinese navy forces have conducted four joint patrols in the Tonkin Gulf and joint surveys of marine resources in the area also took place.
Fishing activities by the two countries’ fishermen in the common fishing waters have been carried out smoothly, the spokesman said, adding that it was a shared fruit reaped from the enactment of the two above-said agreements.
“Việt Nam persists in cooperating with China to handle all arising matters to maintain peace and stability in the Tonkin Gulf for the interests of the two countries’ people,” the Spokesman concluded.