Vietnamese fishmermen were caught in the middle of dispute between their country and China over South China Sea. China's aggresive policy in the region have endangered of the fishermen's source
In the dispute in the South China Sea, Vietnam accused China of trying to force the fishermen out of the waters in South China Sea. Vietnamese fishermen have been regularly attacked by China. The Chinese coastguard rammed the fishermen boat, broke their equipment broken and beaten the crewmen.
One fisherman, Van Giau who lives on the small island of Ly Son, says almost half of the island's boats fishing in the area have come under attack from the Chinese. He told BBC how Chinese coastguards rammed into his wooden boat and damage the boat, while he was fishing in waters near the Paracel Islands. The islands was situated at about 175 miles (280km) off the Vietnamese mainland, roughly the same distance they are from Chinese island province of Hainan.
The Vietnamese fishermen have been fishing in the areas for generations. "My father fished these waters, my grandfather and my great-grandfather. From ancient times they have belonged to Vietnam. Now China has claimed them and invaded them illegally," Van Giau said.
Vietnam Net reported in response to growing Chinese violence to Vietnamese fishermen in South China Sea, Vietnam Fisheries Society (VFS) sent official complaint. The official document was sent to the Government Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations on January 4.
In the document, VFS also quoted recent incident as reported by Quang Ngai provincial Fisheries Association. Whereas on January 4, a wooden fishing boat was rammed by a Chinese ship 70 nautical miles (130 km) off Con Co Island, threw seven of the fishermen overboard. The ship then rammed the boat again for the second time.
In 2015, Viet Nam News reported that Da Nang Border Guard Force found 264 arrivals of Chinese ships violating the Viet Nam's sea sovereignty throughout the year. Colonel Le Van Phuc, the force's commander, said on Friday, January 8. He also said Chinese military ships and coast guards patrols even blocked all Vietnamese maritime rescue ships to help Vietnamese fishing ships in the Vietnamese water.
Known as Hoang Sa in Vietnamese and Xisha in Chinese, Paracel islands is an archipelago located in northeast of Vietnam and southeast of Chinese Hainan province. China has been aggressively invested and developed a large scale construction in the islands, which Vietnam accused as violating Vietnamese sovereignty by building Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in Vietnamese territory.
Paracel islands is one of the contested islands between China and other countries in South China Sea. Other islands that are disputed are Spratly islands, Scarborough shoal, Pratas islands and Zongsha (Macclesfield) islands. Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia have also separated claim on part of the areas in South China Sea.
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