VIETNAM, August 31 -  

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam opposes any use of force against its fishing vessels operating normally at sea, threatening the life and safety as well as causing damage to the property and interests of fishermen, running counter to international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), spokeswoman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Phạm Thu Hằng on Thursday.

Responding to reporters’ queries regarding the information about a Vietnamese fishing boat attacked while operating in the waters of Việt Nam's Hoàng Sa (Paracel), Hằng said competent Vietnamese agencies are urgently verifying the case.

Việt Nam has repeatedly affirmed that it has full legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over Hoàng Sa in line with international law, as well as its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the waters defined in line with the 1982 UNCLOS, she stressed.

Earlier, crew of a fishing boat from the central province of Quảng Ngãi told local media that they were chased and attacked by a foreign vessel, which used high-pressure water cannons, on early Monday morning, while they were en route from Phú Lâm to Xà Cừ (all in Hoàng Sa, Việt Nam).

They said another vessel approached them to offer medical attention but the fishermen were afraid of being apprehended so they sped back to Sa Kỳ port, Quảng Ngãi Province. — VNS