China moved its illegal oil rig in Vietnamese waters again on Tuesday while Chinese vessels, backed by four aircraft, attempted to collide with local ships for falsely accusing Vietnam of attacking them, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department said.
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This is the third time that China has relocated its drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 that has been unlawfully placed in the Vietnamese waters since May 1, the department said.
The two previous times of the rig’s relocation fell on May 27 and June 1.
Yesterday China deployed 119 Chinese vessels to guard the drilling platform, including six military ships, 38 coast guard ships, 13 transport vessels, 19 tugboats, and 43 iron-clad fishing boats.
These Chinese craft were arranged in groups in areas 7-8 and 9-11 nautical miles from the rig. They were ready to ram and fire water cannons at Vietnamese fisheries surveillance and Coast Guard vessels in order to push them away from the rig.
However, Vietnam’s marine law enforcement forces still maintained their presence as close to the rig as possible to demand it and its guarding ships leave the Vietnamese waters.
Meanwhile, 43 Chinese fishing vessels, backed by two coast guard ships, continued to aggressively surround and threaten Vietnamese fishing boats when they were operating in their traditional fishing grounds about 30-40 nautical miles from the rig.
They often approached Vietnamese vessels and tried to cause collisions with the local ships with a view to stage scenes in which the Vietnamese boats seemed to slam into the Chinese watercraft, the department said.
For example, some Chinese ships sailed past local vessels and then suddenly reversed into them to make it look as if the Vietnamese ships crashed into Beijing’s boats from behind.
However, Chinese ships have failed to set up local vessels, which managed to avoid being driven to circumstances that could lead to collision, the department said.
Along with its strong vessel fleet around the platform, China yesterday sent a fighter and three spying planes to the area. These aircraft operated at an altitude of 300-500 meters above the Vietnamese vessels.
China has maintained the rig in Vietnam’s water for over one month despite the fact that the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued two diplomatic notes to its Chinese counterpart, demanding that Beijing withdraw the rig from the area immediately and unconditionally.
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Đăng ký: VietNam News