Int’l journalists interview Vietnam fishermen on boat sunk by Chinese vessel
Monday, June 02, 2014, 12:52 GMT+7
A group of five foreign journalists have interviewed fishermen onboard fishing boat DNa 90152 that sank in the waters of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago after being purposefully crashed into by a Chinese fishing boat one week ago.
The journalists coming from the U.S., Japan, and Britain were brought ashore in the central city of Da Nang on the morning of May 31 by Vietnam Coast Guard ship CSB 8003.
They arrived in Da Nang after reporting near the site of China’s oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 that has been unlawfully placed in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf since May 1, according to a Vietnam Coast Guard officer.
Upon arrival, they came to the house of Huynh Thi Nhu Hoa in Thanh Khe District, owner of the boat DNa 90152, where they conducted a video interview with the captain and crew members.
“After interviewing the fishermen, we feel angry at these acts [from China],” said journalist Osamu Maruyama from Japan’s Yomiuru Shimbun newspaper.
Journalist Manabu Sasaki of Asahi Shimbun, another Japanese newspaper, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper: “I myself witnessed Chinese vessels spray water cannons at Vietnamese ships. Now, I directly listened to what the fishermen said here.”
“They have just encountered a very dangerous attack at sea. It’s time to stop and China should negotiate with Vietnam,” he said.
It was reported that at 4:00 pm on May 26, about 40 Chinese fishing boats surrounded a group of Vietnamese fishing ships hailing from Da Nang in an area about 17 nautical miles south-southwest of the location of the oil rig.
Suddenly, Chinese fishing boat 11209 slammed into Vietnamese fishing ship DNa 90152 with ten fishermen on board. The hard hit sank the local ship while some Vietnamese fishing boats operating nearby managed to save all the ten crew members.
The waters where the Vietnamese ship sank are within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf and the traditional fishing ground of Vietnamese fishermen.
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