What have happened to the so-called "we are free to fish within our
sovereign waters” as Mr. Chairman Truong Tan Sang recently said in the
above statement?
Below incidents have happened in May 2014 alone:
- On May 7, 16 Quang Ngai fishermen were attacked by Chinese ships with
fire bullets, water cannons, hammers and sickles in the Paracel area,
north of Con Linh Island.
- On May 16, Quang Ngai fishing boat with plate number QNG 90205TS was
attacked by Chinese ships at the area of Vietnam’s Phu Lam Island in the
Paracel area. Two Vietnamese fishermen were seriously injured.
- On May 17, 13 Quang Ngai fishermen on the fishing boat QNG96011TS were
attacked near Tri Ton Island in the Paracel area. Their personal
belongings and fishing gears were robbed.
- On May 25, Quang Ngai fishing boat QNG 96180TS carrying 7 fishermen
was rammed by Chinese ships and sank. One fisherman died, 1 is missing
at sea and four were seriously injured.
- On May 26, Da Nang fishing boat DNA90152TS with 10 fishermen was
surrounded by 40 Chinese fishing boats. The Vietnamese boat was later
rammed and sank near the area where the HD-981 rig is illegally deployed
in violation of Vietnam’s territorial waters.
The above incidents have happened “within our sovereign waters." Our
fishermen have seriously taken Sang’s words that “when facing natural
disasters and enemy sabotage, fishermen should quickly notify the
authorities for timely interventions to protect lives and property.”
However, during this time of enemy sabotage and natural disaster
Vietnam’s navy has been completely absent.
"Around 3 a.m. on May 25, while anchoring our boat overnight within the
waters of Quang Ninh province, our boat was rammed by an unidentified
boat at the boat's cockpit area. At that time, we were sleeping and
didn’t know what had happened. When our boat was hit we became panic.
Just 5 minutes later, the boat sank into the sea. At that time, we could
take a guffa then put three seriously injured fishermen onto the guffa.
Three remaining fishermen on board, who suffered minor injuries,
attempted to save Tran Van Dong but they could not. Dong went down with
the boat.
After six of us boarded a small guffa, we tried to stay afloat and oared
the guffa with our hands for nearly 5 hours. We were very tired but we
motivated one another. Fortunately, when we were nearly exhausted, a Hai
Phong fishing boat came to rescue us and escorted us to Co To district,
Quang Ninh province,” a fisherman in Ly Son Island recounts the horrors
that happened to his fishing boat QNG96180 TS.
Five hours of floating on a deserted sea without a shadow of navy or coast guard. The only help came from other fishermen.
It’s worth noting that after the incident, Quang Ninh police vowed to
make “collaboration with relevant authorities to investigate, to hunt
for the ship which caused the sinking of the fishing boat QNG 96180TS.”A
vast area of the East coast has been left open; dying fishermen could
not be saved; now, where can they hunt for the perpetrators?
Listening to Sang, what do people get?
After the death and an accident, people can get:
Relatives of a dead or missing fisherman can get 1.5 million VND (about
70 USD) from the Fatherland Front, 10 million VND from Quang Ngai
Fisheries Association and 10 million VND from the state Labor
Federation. An injured fisherman can get 2 million VND.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam summons Chinese Embassy
representative in Hanoi to exchange diplomatic protest against actions
that threaten, attack fishing boats, endanger the lives of Vietnamese
fishermen on the East Sea.
Making objection after objection as the authorities have done through
the years and Vietnamese fishermen are still facing great dangers from
the Communist China right on the sea of our ancestors.
And at the World Economic Forum recently held in Manila, Nguyen Tan Dung
made his statement about the behavior of Communist China: “This is a
particularly serious violation of international law and the Declaration
on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), of which China
is a signatory party. China's actions have been a direct threat to the
peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and
overflight on the East Sea."
Peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and
overflight... How’s about the lives of the Vietnamese fishermen, Mr.
Prime Minister?
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