Chinese government personnel on Sunday attacked a Vietnamese fishing boat in disputed waters of the South China Sea, leaving several fishermen with serious injuries, Vietnamese state media reported.
The incident took place in the Paracel Islands, situated about 250 miles east of Vietnam and 220 miles southeast of Hainan Island, China. Both neighbors claim the Paracels, though China has maintained de facto control over the archipelago since seizing it after a 1974 battle with then-South Vietnamese naval forces.
China’s “dashed line” claims, which include most South China Sea features, have put it at loggerheads with several neighbors. Its sometimes-violent confrontations with the Philippines within the U.S. treaty ally’s exclusive economic zone have made the most headlines in recent years.
The Vietnamese and Chinese foreign ministries did not immediately respond to written requests for comment. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday dismissed the fishing crew’s claims.
Pung Ba Vuong, the chairman of a local jurisdiction in Binh Sơn District in the northern coastal province of Quang Ngai, said he had been informed that the fishing boats of local anglers had been blocked while operating in vicinity of the Paracel Islands, state media outlet Tien Phong reported Monday.
Later that day, local security officials identified a 40-year-old man named Nguyen Than Bien as the skipper of the 70-foot fishing vessel QNg 95739 TS. He said seven of the boat’s 10 crew members had been injured in the incident, including three who had broken an arm or leg.
The Chinese government vessels behind the alleged attack have been identified by their hull numbers, 101 and 301. Both ships, each of which is over 300 feet long, operate as part of the Sansha City Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau, based in Sansha City in China’s southernmost province of Hainan.
The vessels dispatched three rigid-hulled inflatable boats to pursue the Vietnamese boat before surrounding and boarding it at around 10 a.m.
Nguyen told that approximately 40 people then flooded onto his vessel and began beating the crew with iron bars about 3 feet long. He said one of the attackers hit him so hard that he lost consciousness.
“After beating us, they forced us to the bow of the ship, making us hold our heads with our hands and bow,” a crew member named Huynh Tien Cong said. “I was beaten so severely that my arms and legs were broken.”
He added that the Chinese personnel also destroyed most of the ship’s equipment and made off with about 6 tons of the crew’s catch.
