VietWill - Defending Vietnamese lives and borders in the South China Sea - Taiwan boat crash vs. Vietnam fishermen boat crash

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Taiwan boat crash vs. Vietnam fishermen boat crash

By Tony Le
12 June 2008

I read the following excerpt in a China Daily news article about the Taiwan boat crash incident and thought to myself: Let's compare this incident to incidents taking place in Vietnam's Eastern Sea by the Chinese navy boat patrol:

China is dissatisfied with the actions of a Japanese Coast Guard patrol boat in waters near the Diaoyu Islands that led to the sinking of a Taiwan fishing boat Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

We Vietnamese are very dissatisfied with the actions of Chinese Coast Guard patrol boat in waters in the Paracel and Spratly Islands that led to the sinking of numerous Vietnamese fishing boats for many years.

"We are seriously concerned and strongly dissatisfied with the incident that caused the sinking of the Taiwan fishing boat," Qin said yesterday at a regular press conference. The patrol boat collided with the fishing vessel near the islands early yesterday morning. The fishing boat sank soon after, about 9 km south of the islands. All 16 of its crew were rescued.

We are serious alarmed and strongly dissatisfied with the incidents that caused all these Vietnamese boats to be sunk and numerous fishermen suffering injury and even death from being shot at by the Chinese navy patrol.

In these intentional crashes, Vietnamese fishermen are left to die in the waters. The ones who are captured (kidnapped) are taken to Hainan island and are extorted money up to 15,000 USD as well as having their possessions confiscated leaving them bankrupt. If families do not send the amount of money required, the fishermen are made to stay in prison and are treated as pirates and criminals.

The Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times and China owns indisputable sovereignty over them, Qin said. The Chinese government has asked Japan to stop illegal activities in waters near the islands, to prevent similar incidents from happening again, he said.

The Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands have been Vietnamese territories since ancient times and Vietnam owns indisuputable sovereignty over them. We Vietnamese ask China to stop illegal activities in waters near the islands and near the Vietnamese seashore, such as making oil explorations in Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone, making incursions into Vietnamese internal waters, hungting down Vietnamese fishermen, and slamminng into small Vietnamese fishing boats with its powerful navy patrol boats.

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Hoang Truong Sa

|06-11-2008 20:58:09

Lest We Forget,

Please find below the Petition for Vietnamese fishermen shot dead by Chinese marine police in Junary 2005.
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To: China embassy
This Petition is created to collect signs of Vietnamese people all around the world for the "Vietnamese fishermen shot dead by Chinese marine police " case at the Beibu Gulf on Jan. 8th 2005.
Under here is the letter of demand to Chinese embassadors ask for the justice for the innocent victims.
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From: Vietnamese People

To: Chinese Government, Leaders, Diplomatic Authorities, and Embassy of the People of Republic of China

REF: Vietnamese fishermen shot dead by Chinese marine police

His/Her Excellency,

We, Vietnamese people, vehemently oppose the outrageous and brutal actions of Chinese marine police on innocent Vietnamese fishermen on January 8, 2005 at Beibu Gulf.

On January 8, 2005, at Beibu Gulf, Vietnamese sea area, Chinese marine police unduly attacked, opened fire on two Vietnamese fishing vessels and ruthlessly killed 9 fishermen, wounded 7 and, captured 8. Chinese marine police also captured illegally fishing vessels and assets of these fishermen.

Upon information and belief, all of these fishermen are innocent people. These victims are extremely poor innocent people who have been trying very hard to make a living to support their families. As a result of the brutal killing by Chinese marine police, many innocent children fatherless, many wives widows, and many parents without sons. In addition, all of the victims are the main sources of income for these poor families. Attached are photos evidencing these poor families.

At present, the fates of the 8 captured fishermen are still unknown. Their loved ones are traumatized worrying about their status.

We, Vietnamese People, strongly believe that the Chinese marine police' s brutal actions extremely violated Principles of the United Nation Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, regional and bilateral agreements on sea border issues, and specifically Joint Statement on All-round Cooperation in the New Century Between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam dated 12/26/2000 which two countries agreed to pledge not to take extreme action or make use of force on fisheries-related issues.

For the long-lasting economic and diplomatic relationship between the two countries, we respectfully request the Chinese government and/or authorities to take immediate efforts to prevent and stop these actions, open a due and thorough investigation, and severely punish the murderer.

We demand the Chinese authorities to promptly release the illegally captured Vietnamese fishermen, fishing vessels and assets.

Due to the level of violence that was inflicted upon Vietnamese innocent fishermen and callous actions of Chinese marine polices, who displayed a depraved indifference to human life, we demand that the Chinese government adequately compensate for lost lives and assets caused by the above-mentioned ungrounded killing and seizure of Chinese marine polices.

Without proper and persuasive evidence and/or proof, we strongly oppose Chinese diplomatic authorities' unreasonable remark that these above Vietnamese innocent victims are pirates. We demand that the Chinese government comply with the international rules and respect bilateral agreements, and traditional diplomatic customs in regards to the common sea border between Vietnam and China.

Finally, we demand the Chinese government to take due efforts to unveil the truth and bring justice to these innocent lives. Especially, on the occasion of celebrating 55 years of establishing diplomatic relationship between China and Vietnam, 01/18/2005, we again expect Chinese authorities to pay prompt and due attention to these matters.

Regards,

Vietnamese People
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Sincerely,

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