VN shows concerns over illegal arrest of its fishing boats

VGP – Việt Nam is very worried about China’s repeated arrest of Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen who are working in Việt Nam’s territorial waters, said the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Tuesday.

December 15, 2009 5:42 PM GMT+7

It was reported that on December 7 and 8, the Chinese authorities arrested three fishing boats from Việt Nam’s central province of Quảng Ngãi when these vessels were operating at the Hoàng Sa Islands of Việt Nam, capturing two vessels full of equipment, properties and marine products, herding all 43 fishermen into the rest boat which was released.

Answering reporters’ questions about Việt Nam’s response to this move, Ms. Nguyễn Phương Nga today stressed that it is a wrong action which seriously violates Việt Nam’s territories and territorial rights and is not suitable to the bilateral friendship, harming lives and properties of Vietnamese fishermen.

She said that the Foreign Ministry of Việt Nam on December 15 sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese Embassy in Hà Nội, requiring China to return the two boats, their equipment and properties, and stop all similar actions in the future.

By Hoàng Nguyên