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>> Fisheries association demands China free fishermen
>> VN demands China free 21 fishermen
The meeting was convened during Ninh’s working trip to the province to oversee construction works for civil and national defense purposes, including a wave-resistant dike in An Hai Commune and the Ben Dinh port.
As previously reported, the seizure occurred while two fishing vessels coded QNg66101TS and QNg66074TS with 21 fishermen on board were working in the seas of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago on March 3, 2012.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is expected to take measures to bring the fishermen home soon after reviewing updated detailed report about the incident, Ninh said.
After the incident, the Government has demanded that China immediately and unconditionally free the fishermen and their two fishing vessels.
On March 21, 2012, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said to the media that “the Hoang Sa archipelago belongs to Vietnam. The seizure of Vietnamese fishermen working in the waters around the archipelago seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction rights.”
Tran Ngoc Nguyen, chairman of the island district People’s Committee, said that many local residents and their fishing boats have been arrested by foreign authorities in the past few years.
For example, 139 fishermen were seized and nine boats were confiscated last year, resulting in a total loss of VND2 billion (US$96,150), he said.