Two military ships have been added to a Chinese fleet of armed vessels used to guard Beijing’s oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 that has been illegally positioned in Vietnam’s waters since the beginning of May, according to a quick report by the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department.
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China on Thursday deployed up to 119 vessels including 44 to 46 coast guard ships, 14 to 16 transport boats, 15 to 16 tugboats, 34 iron-clad fishing boats, and seven military ships – two more than the number one day before, the report said.
The Chinese vessels still prevented the Vietnamese law enforcement ships from getting closer to the drilling platform.
Vietnamese fishing boats operating in the country’s traditional fishing ground in the west-northern part of Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands in the East Vietnam Sea have been closely followed by about 34 Chinese iron-clad fishing boats and two Chinese coast guard vessels, the document added.
However, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance ships at the scene actively acted to ensure safety for local fishing boats and human lives.
Also on Thursday, the Vietnamese government approved a VND16 trillion (US$751.35 million) spending bill to support local fishermen and maritime law enforcement forces.
According to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, VND4,500 billion ($211.3 million) of which will be used to build boats for catching fish far off-shore while the remaining will be disbursed to construct ships for the Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries resources surveillance forces.
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Đăng ký: VietNam News