China sends fast attack missile boats into the East Sea

A Chinese fast-attack missile boat brazenly moved and entered the middle of the Vietnamese law enforcement force formation at a distance of 0.8 nautical miles.

While international public opinion continues to condemn China's illegal placement of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in Vietnam's continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, China has taken additional actions that have further escalated the situation.

Chinese ships and drilling rigs violate Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. Photo: Vietnam+

Following the brazen publication of a vertical map that “swallows” the East Sea, putting the entire East Sea into a storm warning area, Beijing recently announced the completion of the construction of a sea and island data warehouse in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago, the placement of a luminous buoy on Phu Lam island in the Hoang Sa archipelago to serve maritime patrols, and the signing of a product sharing contract in the East Sea in coordination with a foreign oil and gas company.

Although China did not disclose whether the above oil and gas block is located in disputed waters or not, regardless of the area, the above actions of China are acts of bad faith, making the situation in the East Sea even more tense.

In the field, according to the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department, on July 4, China maintained about 116 ships of various types to protect the drilling rig, including 48 coast guard ships, 15 transport ships, 14 tugboats, 34 fishing boats and 5 military ships in waters under Vietnam's sovereignty.

Notably, at 1:00 a.m. on July 4, from the West, Vietnamese law enforcement forces detected a Chinese fast-attack missile boat continuously moving and entering the middle of the Vietnamese law enforcement force formation at a distance of 0.8 nautical miles. This boat circled the Vietnamese ships and then headed southwest.

At 11:00 a.m. the same day, the Coast Guard discovered a white reconnaissance aircraft with registration number CMS 3808 flying a circle right above the Coast Guard ship 4033 and the Fisheries Surveillance ships at an altitude of about 300m. Then, at 11:35 a.m., these aircraft returned to fly a circle to continue reconnaissance.

Vietnamese Fisheries Surveillance ships continue to approach the rig 10-11 nautical miles away to fight, propagate and enforce the law, and resolutely demand that the rig and Chinese protection ships leave Vietnam's sovereign waters.

According to VOV.online