“No matter how much force China uses or how many false claims it issues, the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago remains an integral part of Vietnam forever,” Ho Cuong Quyet, a Vietnamese-French man said on his visit to an island off the central Vietnamese coast on Tuesday.

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The French citizen with Vietnamese nationality made the strong statement when he visited fishermen on Ly Son Island, off Quang Ngai Province. He also extended condolences to the families whose relatives lost their lives in the Hoang Sa fishing ground, and strongly condemned China for its escalation of tensions in the East Vietnam Sea in recent times. “I have told my friends in France that China has never established its sovereignty over Hoang Sa. In fact, China used force to illegally occupy the archipelago in 1974, so Vietnamese fishermen remain to stick to their traditional fishing ground, contributing to safeguarding the fatherland’s sovereignty over seas and islands,” Quyet told local fishermen.

On behalf of the French community in Vietnam, Quyet offered 10 gifts worth VND2.8 million (US$132) each to the family of those fishermen who have suffered accidents while operating at sea.  

Earlier, when visiting Binh Chau Commune, Binh Son District on July 21, Quyet also presented 13 gifts to fishermen whose boats and property were damaged in recent attacks by Chinese vessels in the waters off Hoang Sa. The French community had contributed to these gifts to support Quang Ngai fishermen who sustained losses while fishing off Hoang Sa in the period from May 1 to July 16, when China illicitly placed its Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig in the Vietnamese waters off Hoang Sa, Quyet said. More than 100 Chinese vessels that guarded the rig every day during that period often rammed or fired their water cannons at Vietnamese ships tasked with asking them to leave the sea area.

Such attacks injured 15 Vietnamese fisheries surveillance officers together with two fishermen, as well as damaged 27 boats belonging to Vietnam’s marine law enforcement and Coast Guard forces and seven local fishing boats.

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