Chinese minesweeper bullies Vietnamese ship in Vietnam’s waters

The attacking ship, #842, was among the two new military ships that China sent to the area to join the strong Chinese fleet that is guarding the illicit platform, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department reported.

The two new ships took the total number of the Chinese vessels in the waters yesterday to 119, including 46 coast guard ships, 16 transport boats, 16 tugboats, 34 fishing boats, and seven military ships.

These warships were arranged in three groups located to the west, southwest and southeast of the platform, about seven nautical miles away from Vietnamese vessels.

These foreign ships often uncovered the wrappings of their artillery guns when traveling past local vessels, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper correspondents reported from the scene. 

Like in previous days, many Chinese vessels in the waters on Thursday approached Vietnamese ships with intentions to ram or fire high-powered water cannons at them.

Despite such threats, Vietnamese vessels managed to avoid being attacked while simultaneously trying to get as close to the rig as possible to demand that the rig and all its escorting ships leave Vietnamese waters.

Notably, at 8:20 am, Chinese minesweeper #842 approached two Vietnamese crafts – Coast Guard ship CSB 8003 and fishing surveillance boat #630.

The foreign vessel then aggressively rushed straight toward local boat #630 at a speed of 17 nautical miles per hour (32 kph).

In the face of a possible collision, the Vietnamese vessel tried to flee, while the Chinese boat gave a chase, with the nearest distance between them sometimes being as short as 200 meters.

Meanwhile, about 34 Chinese iron-clad fishing boats, with the support of two coast guard ships, continuously approached to threaten Vietnamese fishing vessels in their traditional fishing ground between 40 and 45 nautical miles west and southwest of the rig.

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

Beijing has illegally maintained the rig and its guarding ships in Vietnam’s waters since May 1 despite strong protests from Hanoi, which has repeatedly demanded that China remove the drilling platform from the Vietnamese waters immediately and unconditionally.