Ten Vietnamese fishermen have been kidnapped in the South China Sea, state media said today, and an official said the attackers were from a Chinese-flagged vessel.
The men were allegedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands, an island in the China-Vietnam Strait. Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei mentioned. Vietnamese media did not specify the attackers’ nationality, but Phung Ba Vuong, a government official in the central province of Quang Ngai, told AFP: “They are Chinese, the ship carries the Chinese flag.” »
Four of the 10 Vietnamese sailors were taken to hospital on Monday after they arrived at Quang Ngai port, according to the state-run Tien Phong newspaper, which said the men were attacked by about 40 people. three hours. Captain Nguyen Thanh Bien said: “We were wearing tight clothes and they beat us brutally with irons,” adding that he fell unconscious about an hour after the attack. after.
Pictures posted on Tien Phong’s website show fishermen being taken out of their boats on stretchers. One of them suffered a broken leg and the other two suffered a broken arm, according to reports.
Captain Bien told authorities that equipment and fish worth up to US$20,000 were stolen in the attack. Party official Vuong, chairman of the People’s Committee of Binh Chau, a community where fishermen live, said on Facebook that he strongly resisted China’s bad behavior.
Neither Vietnamese nor Chinese foreign officials immediately responded to AFP requests for comment.
In another incident on Sunday, Tien Phong newspaper reported that another Vietnamese boat in the Paracels stole equipment and fish worth $12,200. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway through which billions of dollars in trade pass each year.
Neighboring countries, including Vietnam, claim part of this sea, but China is becoming stronger in its desire to assert itself in this area. This event comes a few weeks after the Chinese army Lt. Gen. He Lei later said that China will finally end any foreign aggression against China’s borders, rights and interests in the territorial waters.
He said this on the sidelines of a security conference in Beijing, following a high-profile attack by a Philippine ship in Chinese waters.
