China’s spying plane flies only 150 meters above Vietnamese vessels

July 07, 2014 | 15:38

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While more than 100 Chinese boats continued to threaten Vietnamese vessels in Vietnam’s waters where China’s oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 has been illegally placed since early May, a Chinese plane was spying on Vietnamese vessels at a very low altitude on Sunday.

The reconnaissance plane, a CMS B-3808, appeared at about 11:05 am in the sky south-southwest of the platform and then flew toward Vietnamese vessels that were trying to get close to the rig to demand it and its escorting ships leave the Vietnamese waters, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper correspondents reported from the scene.

The plane flew twice over Vietnam Coast Guard ship CSB 8003 and many other local vessels at the same elevation before eventually leaving the area.

The loud noises of the plane’s engines were heard clearly from vessel CSB 8003, the Tuoi Tre reporters said.

Meanwhile over 100 Chinese vessels were seen in the area, including 47 coast guard ships, 14 transport boats, 15 tugboats, five military vessels and more than 30 fishing ships, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department reported.

These vessels were arranged in three arcs in front of the platform and, as on previous days, they often attempted to approach local ships to ram or fire their water cannons at them in order to scare them away from the illegal platform.

Similarly, more than 30 Chinese iron-clad fishing boats, with the support of two coast guard ships, continuously bullied Vietnamese fishing vessels in their traditional fishing ground about 40 nautical miles from the rig.

However, local fishing boats tried to maintain operations under the protection of Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ships.

There were no signs of movement of the rig throughout Sunday, the department said.

Beijing has illegally maintained the rig and its guarding ships in Vietnam’s waters since May 1 despite strong protests from Hanoi, which demanded that China withdraw the rig from the area immediately.

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