VN slams China's ‘inhumane action'

Viet Nam strongly condemned "inhumane action" against its fishermen operating legally in the country's waters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said yesterday.

Binh was responding to press queries about Viet Nam's response to the report that a Chinese boat recently attacked a fishing boat from Ly Son island in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The Chinese are also alleged to have stolen fishing equipment and fish on board the boat, which was fishing in the waters of Viet Nam's Hoang Sa archipelago.


Commenting on China's live ammunition drills in the East Sea from August 20 to September 3, Binh said Viet Nam hoped that China, as a member of the UN Security Council, would make responsible contributions to maintaining peace in the region and the world.

The China Maritime Safety Administration said the drills were held near Leizhou Peninsula in China.

Regarding a shooting incident at sea near the Fiji islands in a video clip posted on Youtube on August 17, Binh confirmed that no Vietnamese fishing vessels had operated in Fiji's waters.

The Foreign Ministry has asked the Vietnamese Embassy in New Zealand and Fiji to verify the information, he said