Vietnam report slams Chinese 'intrusions'

Vietnamese authorities discovered 717 Chinese fishing boats "encroaching" in "Vietnam's waters" last year, local media said on Sunday, shortly after the Chinese government reiterated its territorial claim over waters off the Xisha Islands.

Citing a report by Vietnam's Border Guard Command and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Da Nang, the news portal vietnamnet.vn reported that Vietnamese officials also detected Chinese reconnaissance ships and fishing administration vessels in the waters 53 times last year.

From May 29 to June 16 last year, 10 to 50 Chinese vessels held military exercises every day, during which time they "took suppression action against Vietnamese fishing vessels, petroleum exploration ships and arrested Vietnamese fishermen" in the waters, the news portal reported.

"The islands and surrounding waters are under the practical control of China," Lan Yun, editor with the Modern Ships magazine and a defense observer, told the Global Times, adding that the navy has established a base big enough to accommodate fighters and vessels on Yongxing Island, the biggest island in the waters around the Xisha Islands.

As China enhances its law enforcement activities in Xisha, Chinese fishermen's rights will be better protected and Vietnamese fishermen will find it increasingly difficult to fish illegally in the area, he said.

"Vietnam released the report only to verbally express their territorial claim," Lan said.

China's Ministry of National Defense has not responded to the report, which came only days after the Chinese navy denied accusations from the Vietnamese foreign ministry that a Vietnamese fishing boat caught fire after "being fired upon by a Chinese navy ship."

The navy said the accusations were sheer fabrication, while foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei urged the Vietnamese government to take effective measures to stop its fishermen illegally fishing in the waters.

Last year, at least 303 Vietnamese boats entered territorial waters off the Xisha Islands, Chinese media reported previously.

China did not seize any of the fishing boats out of a wish to maintain military relations between China and Vietnam, the Global Times reported earlier.