Calling on union members and fishermen to continue going out to sea

Faced with China's brazen deployment of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig and escort vessels to violate Vietnam's maritime sovereignty, the Vietnam Fisheries Union calls on its members and Vietnamese fishermen to continue going out to sea.

Fishing boat of Nam Dinh fishermen. Photo: VNA

The Vietnam Fisheries Union believes that China's actions are illegal, go against international law and practice, and seriously violate Vietnam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa, its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Vietnam's exclusive economic zones and continental shelf.

China's serious violation of Vietnam's sovereignty has affected and hindered the normal activities of members of fishing unions and fishermen in the central coastal provinces who are exploiting aquatic products in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. Vietnam has full legal and historical grounds to assert its sovereignty over Hoang Sa, Truong Sa and its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in accordance with the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Vietnam Fisheries Union resolutely opposes this action by China, and demands that China withdraw all Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rigs and escort vessels from this area. The Vietnam Fisheries Union calls on members of fishing unions and Vietnamese fishermen to continue to go out to sea, carry out aquatic and marine exploitation activities, and contribute to the resolute struggle of Vietnamese authorities against China's violation of Vietnam's sovereignty, and protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

According to Vietnam+