China active to attack Vietnamese ships

At an international press conference held by the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs on developments in the East Sea on June 5, Vice Chairman of the National Border Committee Tran Duy Hai, said China intensified escort ships in Vietnam’s waters, sometimes up to 140 vessels, including military ships operating in the area where Chinese oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 was illegal placed.

Chinese ships have demonstrated aggressive behaviour and they have actively attacked, deliberately rammed and sprayed high power water cannons at Vietnamese civilian law enforcement ships, injuring fisheries surveillance officers and damaging Vietnamese law enforcement agency equipment.

Chinese ship using water cannons to attack a Vietnamese vessel (Photo:AFP)

The same day, China blatantly slandered Vietnam ships for ramming them more than 1,200 times in the area around its oil rig.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also grossly slandered: "The drilling activities of this rig are within China's territorial waters. The harassment by the Vietnamese side is in violation of China's sovereign rights,"

On June 6, CNN published a diary written by reporter Euan McKirdy describing the situation in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. McKirdy is one of 40 domestic and international journalists who have been drafted in to make their presence in the field.

McKirdy wrote “The Vietnamese refrain over territorial waters is constant and unerring. Crew members explained to me that China is breaking the 1982  UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, and that the vessels are engaged in illegal activities in waters that are part of Vietnam's continental shelf.”

 “The oil rig -- identified as HD-981 -- is omnipresent. It's there in everyone's minds, it's the focus of much of the conversation on the boat, and it's physically visible for most of our time at sea -- though we keep our distance.

Despite our considerable distance from land, the horizon bristles with the silhouettes of dozens of ships, a mixture of Vietnamese and Chinese Coast Guard vessels and fishing fleets from both sides. The Vietnamese fishing boats are draped in red banners, which urge the Chinese to leave their territory” He said.

A Vietnam Television (VTV) crew embedded with CNN aboard CG 8003 says the previous vessel they were aboard, a government fisheries surveillance ship, was itself rammed by the Chinese Coast Guard.

“While Chinese ships keep their distance, they are intent on making their presence known. When the ships are close enough, we can see the deck-mounted guns have had their tarpaulins removed - a less than subtle signal perhaps. In any event, the sight of naked weaponry only dozens of meters away is unsettling.

The Chinese presence is also felt in the air. Towards the end of our time aboard the ship, we see a surveillance plane -- which journalists aboard the coast guard vessel are assured is Chinese -- leisurely bank around our vessel time and time again, sometimes flying low and close enough for those on board to make out its markings with the naked eye.” he added.