China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Steps Up Harassment of Vietnamese Fishermen

Jul 13, 2015 | Ankit Panda, The Diplomat
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As Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, wrapped up an historic visit to the United States, reports emerged in the Vietnamese press that a Vietnamese fishing boat was pursued and sunk by two Chinese vessels. According to Vietnam’s Tuoitre News, a fishing boat operated by 11 Vietnamese fishermen off the coast of Quang Ngai was intercepted, harassed, and sunk by two Chinese ships in waters off the Paracel archipelago. China and Vietnam dispute the sovereignty of the Paracel Islands. The sinking of this fishing boat comes weeks after China redeployed its Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HD-981) oil rig near disputed waters. That oil rig was at the center of a major dispute between the two South China Sea claimant states last summer.