Vietnam accuses China of sinking fishing boat in disputed waters

Vietnam has accused China of sinking a fishing boat in the disputed South China Sea as an international court is due to issue a ruling in the territorial row between Beijing and Manila.

The Vietnam Fisheries Society (Vinafis) said in a Tuesday statement that two Chinese coastguard ships pursued a pair of Vietnamese boats on Saturday afternoon off Quang Ngai Province of Vietnam.

“Chinese men jumped onto fisherman Vo Van Luu's boat, struck the Vietnamese sailors and... sunk the vessel,” Vinafis said in the statement, adding the five crew members were forced overboard.

The statement further said the second boat was banned from reaching the stranded fishermen.

The five Vietnamese men remained in the sea till dark when the second ship was able to draw near to the area.

Vinafis also denounced the incident, calling for compensation from China.

Beijing has yet to comment on the allegations. 

China and Vietnam are locked in a longstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea over Paracels islands – known as Xisha Islands in China – and waters in the South China Sea claimed by both countries.

Beijing  has long-standing disputes over maritime territory in the energy-rich, strategic waters of the South China Sea with regional states Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Regional tensions are slightly rising as an arbitration court in The Hague is due to announce a ruling later on Tuesday in a dispute between Beijing and Manila over territory in the South China Sea.

The case, which was brought by the Philippines, challenges China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. Beijing has already said it will not be bound by the court ruling.

"We won't accept any of their so-called materials, no matter what they are," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.

"No matter what kind of ruling is to be made, Chinese armed forces will firmly safeguard national sovereignty... and deal with all kinds of threats and challenges," China's Defense Ministry also said in a statement. 

Japan to monitor Chinese activities 

Japan, which is also locked in another territorial row with Beijing in East China Sea, expressed concern over the effects of Tuesday’s ruling.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday his country’s armed forces will carefully watch Chinese activity in the neighboring East China Sea.

“We urge all parties concerned to react in a way that does not raise tensions,” Nakatani said at a news conference in Tokyo.

“We will keep a close watch on the situation in the East China Sea,” he further said.

Relations between China and Japan have soured over the past few years over a territorial row on the uninhabited yet strategically-important island group in the East China Sea. Tensions grew after Tokyo nationalized part of the resource-rich islands in 2012.

China maintains that the islands are inherent parts of its territory and that it has indisputable sovereignty over them, while the Japanese government regards the islands as a part of its Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture.

The islands have been under Japanese administrative control since the reversion of Okinawa to Japan from US administrative rule in 1972.

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