Vietnam and China yesterday traded accusations over who was the aggressor in a clash that led to the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea, sharpening tensions already dangerously high after China moved an oil rig into the disputed waters.
Hanoi accused a Chinese vessel of ramming the wooden Vietnamese boat on Monday and then fleeing the scene.
Beijing said the Vietnamese boat was trying to get close to the oil rig, rammed into one of its vessels and then sank.
The crew was rescued by other Vietnamese boats in the area.
The clash occurred about 30km south-southwest of the large oil rig that China deployed on May 1 in waters that both nations — and Taiwan — claim.
Vietnam sent patrol ships to confront the rig, and China has deployed scores of vessels to protect it.
Monday’s incident was the first time a Vietnamese boat had been sunk, said Tran Van Linh, president of the Fisheries Association in the central port city of Danang.
“I call this an act of attempted murder because the Chinese sank a Vietnamese fishing boat and then ran away,” Linh said. “We vehemently protest this perverse, brutal and inhumane action by Chinese side.”
Linh said about 40 Chinese steel vessels surrounded a group of smaller, wooden Vietnamese fishing ships on Monday afternoon. One then rammed into the Vietnamese ship, tossing 10 fishermen into the water and sinking the boat, he said.
In Beijing, the government said that a Vietnamese fishing boat had forced its way into the area around the oil rig and rammed into a Chinese fishing boat.
“I think the fact that this incident happened at all shows that Vietnam’s illegitimate and illegal harassment and sabotage against China’s regular operations are futile and will only hurt their own interests,’’ Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) said.
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