The Vietnam Fisheries Trade Union has condemned China’s attacks on Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen in Vietnamese waters.

In its statement issued on June 18, the trade union stated that Chinese ships had attacked Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen on various occasions while they were at work in Vietnamese territorial waters.

In the early morning of June 18, fishing vessel QNg 95431TS was attacked by the Chinese ships 3013 and 44044, whose crews beat up the Vietnamese fishermen and took away their fishing tools and that day’s catch.

Previously, Vietnamese vessels QNg 90205TS and QNg 90657 TS had been attacked by Chinese ships 3103, 589, 6450 and 35101 on June 16 and 10, respectively, while fishing in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. These Chinese seized their catch, fishing equipment and fuel.

On June 9, vessel QNg 95193TS suffered similar damages to its crew and assets after being attacked by the Chinese ship 4302 using water cannon.

The association condemned the actions as inhumane acts that jeopardized the lives and assets of Vietnamese fishermen.

It called upon China to immediately stop the actions and compensate the Vietnamese fishermen for the damages they incurred.

Vietnamese fishermen were asked to remain calm and support each other when working offshore, while letting the relevant authorities deal with the situation in order to mitigate the rising tensions in Vietnamese waters.

VNA