Association protests China's fishing in Vietnam sea

The Vietnam Fisheries Association has opposed China for violating Vietnam’s sea and island sovereignty by allowing tens of thousands of fishing boats to operate in Vietnam’s sea territories.

The Vietnam Fisheries Association has opposed China for violating Vietnam’s sea and island sovereignty by allowing tens of thousands of fishing boats to operate in Vietnam’s sea territories.

Chinese fishing boats in China's Hainan Province are preparing to sail to the East Sea. Photo: Xinhua

Tran Cao Muu, general secretary of the association, yesterday said the agency has released “Vietnam Fisheries Association’s statement on protest against China’s violation of Vietnam’s sea and island sovereignty.”

The statement was issued after China on Wednesday lifted a seasonal fishing ban illegally imposed by itself for many areas in the East Sea, allowing tens of thousands of Chinese fishing boats to head to Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes for fishing.

Such fishing operation is an act of violating Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes, the association said in the statement.

Through the fishing, China has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982 and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) between ASEAN and China.

The Association strongly objects to the violations and demands that China stop them immediately.

The association calls on Vietnamese fishermen to continue their normal fishing activities in the seas of Vietnam and requests that concerned agencies take more effective and stronger measures to protest China’ illegal action and to safeguard fishermen.

According to the Chinese media, China will take about 23.000 fishing boats down the East Sea after lifting its fishing ban that started on May 16 and ended on August 1.

Of these vessels, nearly 9,000 are from Hainan Province and some 14,000 are from Guangdong Province, Xinhua and China Daily reported.