Two Chinese warships on Wednesday sped toward Vietnamese vessels in the Vietnamese waters where China has illegally placed its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 since early May, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department reported.

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These vessels often approached local ships so that they could ram or fire their water cannons at them in areas about 10-11 nautical miles from the rig. Despite their threats, Vietnamese marine law enforcement ships tried their best to get as close to the platform as possible to demand that it and all its escorting ships leave Vietnamese waters. China also dispatched many planes to the area to threaten and spy on Vietnamese vessels. Among these aircraft were an H6E fixed-wing plane and a helicopter. Meanwhile, a large number of Chinese iron-clad fishing boats, with the support of two coast guard ships and two transport vessels, often got close to local fishing boats to scare them away from their traditional fishing ground about 42-45 nautical miles west-southwest of the rig.   However, local fishing vessels tried to maintain operations there, with the protection of Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ships. Beijing has still maintained the drilling rig within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf since May 1 despite vehement protest from Hanoi, which has repeatedly demanded that Beijing withdraw the rig from the area immediately and unconditionally.

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