The Haiyang Dizhi 8 survey vessel that intruded into Vietnamese waters last year has returned to Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, which is known as the East Sea in Vietnam.
On Tuesday [April 14], the Chinese ship appeared again 158 km (98 miles) off Vietnam’s coast, flanked by at least one China Coast Guard vessel, Reuters reported, citing Marine Traffic, a website that tracks shipping.
| Chinese Haiyang Dizhi 8 survey vessel. Photo: Weibo |
Data by the Marine Traffic site also featured at least three Vietnamese vessels were moving with the Chinese ship.
In a statement released on April 14, Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang of the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Hanoi always monitors all developments in the South China Sea and insists that all nations comply with international law.
“Vietnam demands that all nations abide by provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international rules in all activities, contributing to building peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea,” Hang said in a statement.
The presence of the Haiyang Dizhi 8 in Vietnam’s EEZ comes at a time when Vietnam and many parts of the world are struggling to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“The deployment of the vessel is Beijing’s move to once again baselessly assert its sovereignty in the South China Sea,” Reuters quoted Ha Hoang Hop, at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, as saying.
“China is using the coronavirus distraction to increase its assertiveness in the South China Sea, at a time when the U.S. and Europe are struggling to cope with the new coronavirus,” Hop added.
It also follows the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat near Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands in the South China Sea early this month. The Chinese act drew protest from Vietnam and the US while Manila backed Hanoi in accusing China of violating Vietnam's sovereignty and threatening the lives of Vietnamese fishermen.
In July 2019, the Haiyang Dizhi 8 and its escorts intruded into the EEZ and the continental shelf of Vietnam near the Vanguard Bank until August 7. The vessels returned to the water area on August 13 and stayed until October.
Vietnam strongly condemned the operations of the vessel and escorts, saying it’s the obvious violations of Vietnamese sovereignty.
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