The sunken Vietnamese fishing boat coded QNg 90819 TS (Photo: VTC)

According to Vietnamese agencies, on March 6, when a Vietnamese fishing boat with five crew members was anchored in the vicinity of Da Loi Reef in Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago, Chinese coast guard ship 44101 approached and fired a water cannon to drive the boat away. The Vietnamese boat struck the reef and sank. The fishermen clung to the wreckage for three hours before they were rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat.

The Consular Department of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry has met with representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam to present a diplomatic note of protest against the Chinese ship’s action, which violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago, and threatened the lives and damaged the property of the Vietnamese fishermen. The Chinese Embassy was asked to inform China’s Foreign Ministry and relevant agencies about the incident in order to punish the crew members of the coast guard vessel, prevent such an incident from recurring, and pay proper compensation to the Vietnamese fishermen.