Vietnamese fishermen recount ‘brutal beating’ by Chinese forces

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A Vietnamese fishing vessel captain has claimed that Chinese law enforcement officials attacked his unarmed crew with metal rods last month in one of the most violent confrontations in the contested waters of the South China Sea.

The Vietnamese foreign ministry said that it has lodged a strong protest with China over the “brutal treatment” of the fishermen in the waters off the Paracel Islands on 29 September.

The alleged attack occurred just weeks ahead of Chinese premier Li Qiang’s scheduled visit to Vietnam. Mr Li is set to travel to the Southeast Asian nation on 12 October on the invitation of prime minister Pham Minh Chinh to discuss trade and possibly disputes in the South China Sea.

All 10 crew members of the vessel were injured in the attack, five of them seriously, captain Nguyen Thanh Bien said. The Chinese also confiscated the crew’s fishing equipment and four tons of catch, he told Vietnamese state media.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the Vietnamese boat was fishing illegally in the Paracel Islands waters and denied that anybody was injured.

“The onsite operations were professional and restrained and no injuries were found,” it said in response to a Reuters request for comment.

The Paracel Islands, called the Xisha Islands in China, is a cluster of over 30 islands in the South China Sea, between the coast of Vietnam and the southern coast of China. The Parcels are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Vietnam disputes China’s control on the grounds that the islands were administered as part of French Indochina during French colonial rule.

The boat had sailed on 13 September from Sa Ky Port in central Quang Ngai province to fish near Hoang Sa archipelago, which is what Vietnam calls the Paracel Islands.

On 29 September, a Chinese vessel chased down the boat while another blocked it from escaping.

At around 9am, 40 officials from the Chinese vessel boarded the boat and assaulted the fishermen.

One of the fishermen, Huynh Tien Cong, 47, told the outlet he endured relentless blows from metal sticks while the rest of the crew was also beaten.

Mr Bein, 40, told Vnexpress he was left unconscious following the attack that lasted four hours. “I have been a captain for over 10 years and have faced Chinese vessels several times, but this time they were very violent, using metal sticks to beat us brutally,” he said.

He and his crew were still recovering from the injuries they suffered during the attack, Mr Bein said.

The fishermen said they suffered a loss of VND310m ($12,523) as the Chinese took away their catch and equipment. They were left with nothing but a tracker to return to the port, they said.

“Vietnam is extremely concerned, indignant and resolutely protests the brutal treatment by Chinese law enforcement forces of Vietnamese fishermen and fishing boats operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam,” foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said a few days after the incident.

Tensions in the South China Sea, along with the civil war in Myanmar, are set to be top of the agenda as Southeast Asian leaders gather in Laos on Wednesday for the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. Along with its 10 member nations, the ASEAN summit will see participation by guest nations Japan, South Korea, India and Australia.