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Keep Fishing, Vietnam Tells Citizens After China Ban in Disputed Sea

VOA News

   After China attempted to put limits on the disputed South China Sea,
   Vietnam responded with a message to its fishermen: just keep fishing,
   within the law.

   The Southeast Asian nation, a major world exporter of seafood, told
   provincial governments along the coast to "intensify" oversight of the
   fishers under their safeguard.

   The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent a letter to the
   local governments last week, telling them to inform fishermen of
   China's "invalid" fishing ban but also to "encourage fishers to stick
   to normal production within the limits of Vietnam's territorial
   waters." Vietnam rejected China's seasonal ban from May 1 to Aug. 16 in
   the South China Sea, which is claimed by both nations, a month after
   saying China also sank a boat carrying Vietnamese fishermen who have
   been rescued.

   "The People's Committees of provinces and cities shall direct
   functional agencies to intensify the management and supervision of
   fishing activities of fishing ships at sea," said a report
   fromVietnamNet, the official news site of the Ministry of Information
   and Communications.

   The agriculture ministry provided a hotline where people should report
   any "unexpected incidents" to its Department of Fisheries Control in
   the wake of China's announcement.

   The fishing fracas threatens to inflame a South China Sea where
   multi-nation tensions have already been heating up in recent months.
   Washington warned Beijing against "exploiting" the COVID-19 pandemic to
   distract from its maritime aggressions in April, after China sent a
   ship back to the disputed waters, possibly to explore for oil.

   Vietnam protested the ship's return, as well as the earlier sinking of
   a fishing boat. The Philippines, which has vacillated in its maritime
   criticism of China, took the rare step of standing by Vietnam after the
   sinking. Even Indonesia, not a frequent party to the South China Sea
   disputes,sankChinese shipsin 2019 thatit accusedof illegal fishing.

   Malaysia alsoprotestedthe return of China's exploratory vessel in
   April. The United States showed its opposition,towhat it called,China's
   "coercive and unlawful actions" in the South China Sea last week by
   dispatching the USS GabrielleGiffords, named after a former
   Arizonacongresswoman,injured in a 2011 shooting.

   "Routine presence operations, like GabrielleGiffords', reaffirms the
   U.S. will continue to fly and sail freely, in accordance with
   international law and maritime norms, regardless of excessive claims or
   current events," Vice Adm. Bill Merz, commander of the U.S. Navy's 7th
   Fleet, said.

   The South China Sea, seen as a rich source of fisheries and oil, has
   overlapping territorial claims by several Asian nations.

   Vietnam has already seen a decline in its fishing sector because of
   COVID-19, including a decrease in seafood trade with China.

   Nguyen Viet Thang, chair of the Vietnam Association of Fisheries, asked
   the government to defend local fishermen and oppose China's attempt at
   a summer fishing ban.

   "This regulation has no legal value for the seas under Vietnam's
   sovereignty," he said in a letter to the government on behalf of the
   association. "Fishermen of Vietnam completely have the right to fish in
   the waters under its sovereignty."

   The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam has responded accordingly.

   "Vietnam rejects China's unilateral decision," LeThiThu Hang, the
   ministry spokesperson, said.

   She said, using the Vietnamese term for the South China Sea, "Given the
   current regional and global context, Vietnam asks China not to further
   complicate the situation in the East Sea."

   China has said Vietnam does not have a right to protest the fishing
   ban.

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