Chinese fishing ban stokes protest from Vietnam amid sea dispute

Jan 20, 2012, 12:06 GMT

Hanoi - Vietnam on Friday protested an annual fishing ban announced by China last week, claiming the move threatens the country's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The ban, which Beijing says is necessary to prevent overfishing, would be in force between May 16 and August 1. The area includes the Spratly and Paracel islands, territory also claimed by Vietnam.

The statement, issued by the Agriculture Ministry on January 12, said that any fishing vessels violating the ban, whether Chinese or foreign, would be punished.

Vietnamese government spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said the ban violated Vietnam's sovereignty and complicated the situation in the South China Sea.

'Vietnam has indisputable rights over Spratly and Paracel islands, has sovereignty rights and jurisdictional rights over the exclusive economic zones and continental shelf under the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea', he said.

He said Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had met with Chinese officials to protest the ban.

Tensions between the two countries rose this year when Vietnam accused its neighbour of harassing fishing boats and cutting the cable of a survey vessel.

Vietnamese fishermen defied previous bans over the last three years, leading the Chinese to arrest hundreds and impound dozens of boats.

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