Vietnam, China coast guards conduct joint patrol

This marks the second joint patrol this year and is the seventh since the Vietnam- China agreement on fishery co-operation in the Gulf of Tonkin expired on June 30, 2020.

The joint patrol stretches across 13 points within 255.5 nautical miles. A range of activities are taking place as part of the patrol, including talks, inspections, supervisions over fishing boats operating in the waters adjacent to the demarcation line, and raising awareness among the two countries' fishermen about law observance.

As part of this occasion, the Vietnamese side established an inter-sectoral working group to monitor Vietnamese fishing boats’ observance of legal regulations and the European Commission (EC)’s recommendations on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Colonel Luong Cao Khai, vice commander and Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Coast Guard Region 1, who led the Vietnamese joint patrol force, noted that the event demonstrates close ties between law enforcement forces at sea of the two countries in the Gulf of Tonkin, as well as calling it a bright spot for the region as it serves to promote the traditional friendship that exists between the two nations.

The joint patrol is due to last until December 1.