Once on a Chinese Coast Guard vessel.
It was a late April afternoon. In the area of the demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin, fierce waves threatened to crash onto the Vietnamese Coast Guard vessel CSB 8004. We stood on the deck looking east. About 0.5 nautical miles from our ship was vessel number 4303 of the South China Sea Sub-branch of the Chinese Coast Guard.
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I was one of two reporters assigned by the leadership of the Coast Guard Region 1 delegation to accompany them on a visit to a Chinese vessel. Even more remarkably, during this joint patrol between the Vietnam Coast Guard and the China Coast Guard in the vicinity of the demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin, Nghe An Newspaper and Radio & Television was the only local media outlet invited to participate and report on the event. This demonstrates the long-standing and close relationship between Nghe An's leading media outlets and the Coast Guard Region 1 Command.
After the horns of the flagship CSB 8004 sounded amidst the vast sea, we boarded a speedboat secured by two robotic arms on the ship's side. From the high deck, under the control of the speedboat officers, the robotic arms began to extend horizontally, lifting the speedboat away from the ship's hull, then slowly lowering the cable until the speedboat floated safely on the waves. The sea was rough at that time.
According to the weather forecast, winds were at force 6-7, with waves 2-4 meters high. Having participated in many voyages at sea, I wasn't entirely unfamiliar with this. However, to say I wasn't worried would be untrue. I even managed to observe what I could: to the west and southwest were two Vietnamese Coast Guard vessels, CSB 8004 and CSB 8003; to the east and southeast were two vessels from the South China Sea Sub-branch of the Chinese Coast Guard: 4303 and 4203; further south, a very large container ship was traveling from east to west.
Why do I remember all these things? Actually, it's just a little caution I learned from my experiences at sea. For example, if the boat encounters problems due to rough seas, it allows me to be prepared for the most difficult situations.
And indeed, at that moment the boat was rocking violently, the huge waves threatening to engulf the small vessel. Besides the roar of the engine and the screeching of the waves, no one spoke. I just looked at the Coast Guard officer, a Lieutenant Colonel, whose face showed no change in expression. The 0.5 nautical mile distance from the Vietnamese ship to the Chinese ship took quite a long time. The fierce waves and strong currents sometimes made the boat seem to be completely submerged. It took almost 20 minutes before we approached the flagship, the Chinese Coast Guard vessel 4303.
Throughout that time, observing from the port side, the officers and crew of the other ship shared the same anxiety. Moreover, the Coast Guard vessel 4303 of the South China Sea Sub-Department was not designed for boats to be launched and launched from either side. The 3,500-ton vessel was designed like a warship. It had a high bow, a narrow hull, and tapers towards the stern. The stern was designed as a hollow compartment with an automatic bulkhead. Here, there were rails and rollers for launching or launching specially designed motorboats onto and off the ship. The head of the Vietnamese Coast Guard Region 1 delegation and accompanying senior officers were picked up by the other ship's motorboat via this route, while we climbed onto the ship from a rope ladder suspended on the side.
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Upon safely boarding the South China Sea Coast Guard vessel 4303, a strange feeling crept into my mind. It was the first time in my life I'd been on a Chinese ship. I had truly "crossed" the border into a neighboring country. We were welcomed with the most solemn ceremony reserved for maritime defense diplomacy. Coast Guard officers, some as tall as 1.90 meters, stood upright, carefully receiving life jackets and raincoats, then neatly folding them in rows. On a row of tables covered with pristine white tablecloths, basins of fresh water were prepared, and two officers stood at attention, holding cardboard boxes, their eyes fixed straight ahead. According to maritime diplomatic protocol, washing hands with fresh water upon welcoming foreign guests onto the ship demonstrates the utmost hospitality and respect.
After warm embraces from the leaders of the two delegations, we followed the red carpet to the top deck of the ship. Along the carpet were two rows of solemn Coast Guard officers with expressionless faces. Following the formalities on deck, the leaders of both sides proceeded to the meeting room. The reception room, though small, was warm and inviting. The head of the Vietnamese Coast Guard delegation was Colonel Luong Cao Khai, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of Coast Guard Region 1. Welcoming the Chinese delegation was Colonel Chiem Dat Dong, Deputy Director of the South China Sea Sub-Department of the Chinese Coast Guard. Both sides exchanged experiences regarding this joint patrol.
Accordingly, the patrol ensured that the requirements were met. The two squadrons of the two countries' coast guards strictly adhered to the plan; they formed two parallel columns, using the demarcation line as a reference point, with a distance of 0.5 nautical miles between the two squadrons. The Vietnamese Coast Guard squadron sailed west of the demarcation line in the Gulf of Tonkin, while the Chinese squadron sailed east of the demarcation line. The departure point for both sides was at point 21 – 52 nautical miles northeast of Con Co Island. The joint patrol operation spanned 13 points in a south-north direction, covering a distance of 255.5 nautical miles…
After a few minutes of pleasantries, the members of both delegations became more open. The warm atmosphere in the reception room of the Chinese ship was further enhanced by the two interpreters from the Chinese side and one interpreter officer from Vietnam.
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I kept thinking and smiling about the carefree, innocent nature of the journalist – Lieutenant Colonel Luyen Minh Huong – from the National Defense Television. When he met Colonel Chiem Dat Dong – Deputy Head of the South China Sea Sub-Department – on the ship's deck, he greeted me cheerfully as if I were meeting relatives from his hometown: “Did you go to the trade fair in Guangdong? I went on that trip! The Chinese side did a great job that day, we had so much fun!” I thought back to Colonel Dat Dong's face at that moment. Initially, he was a little startled by the loud voice of the person carrying a camera on their shoulder standing in front of him. Later, probably realizing the sincerity of the person opposite him, he laughed heartily even though he didn't understand anything.
On the clean and tidy ship of our neighboring country, I also saw Mr. Luyen Minh Huong happily joking around with the Chinese reporters. He even pulled his Chinese colleagues to take souvenir photos. He made the walkways and corridors of the Chinese warship lively, cheerful, and full of positive energy. Without needing to understand the language or any diplomatic formalities, the reporters and journalists from both sides understood each other's glances and actions.
Among the reporters accompanying the Chinese delegation, I noticed a very young female reporter. Her name is Zhang Su Xue, a reporter for CCTV. This was the second time I had met her. The first time was two days earlier, when she and the Chinese delegation visited and held talks with the Vietnamese Coast Guard delegation on board a Vietnamese vessel. She said she was very happy to participate in this patrol, and that through her reporting and publicity, she would reflect the warm relationship between the coast guards of the two countries.
I agree with Tô Tuyết, and many others do too! The Gulf of Tonkin covers an area of nearly 130,000 square kilometers.2This is a strategically important sea area for both Vietnam and China. The warm and friendly relations between the two neighboring countries will be the basis for ensuring the stability and development of the sea area, in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement between Vietnam and China on the Delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin, signed by the two countries on December 25, 2000.
From the deck of Chinese Coast Guard vessel 4303, I looked west. There, the two Vietnamese Coast Guard vessels, CBS 8004 and CSB 8003, still swayed gently with the waves. A feeling of affection and emotion permeated the April afternoon sunlight. I felt immense pride and love for my homeland's sea!