Vietnam Charges China for Sinking a Ship, Detaining Vietnamese Crew

Vietnam will be filing charges against China for sinking an unarmed Vietnamese fishing vessel in the waters near Paracel islands on Thursday. According to Vietnamese officials, the Chinese ship also detained the Vietnamese crew members.

China pins the blame on Vietnam fishing vessel

The Chinese government released a statement denying the allegations and claiming that they were not the cause of the collision that happened on Thursday.

According to the official interpretation of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, the Vietnamese boat did not want to leave and moved to ram the Chinese boat. Moreover, the Coast Guard vessel allegedly tried to avoid it which is why it was hit at the bow.

"The Vietnamese boat refused to leave and suddenly veered sharply towards the Chinese vessel. Despite its best efforts to keep clear, the Coast Guard vessel was struck at the bow. The Vietnamese fishing boat then took in water and sank."

After the head-on collision, the Vietnamese fishing vessel sunk. This side of the story was based on official Chinese sources, but Vietnam stood by its allegations and will be filing charges to hold China responsible.

Long-disputed affair in South China sea

The South China Sea is an area where China has been expanding its oceanic boundaries, causing tension within the territory. It is only one of the many instances that China has acted in a very hostile manner towards other ships, thus causing serious impact in world affairs.

The area is a high-tension spot where both countries are challenging each other for years. It was only recently that China acquired technology to track vessels in the region, according to Chinese expert.

Grey Poling, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Washington Examiner that it is a surprise that the Chinese attacked viciously.

He added, "This is the new normal in the South China Sea: Nobody operates without China's permission, or, they face a real risk of a violent run-in with the Coast Guard or the Chinese militia." As China asserts itself in the South China Sea, other ships and fishing vessels from other countries had to look behind their back.

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Using modern technology to spy on nearby vessels

Poling indicated that one of the islands have a military base on it, with significant military equipment too. Satellites have spied on a fighter, anti-ship cruise missiles, and surface to air missiles to scare non-Chinese aircraft or attack them.

Leaps in the detective ability of Beijing seems to be the answer to how they are stealing valuable resources from fishing nations in the area. Another is they get antsy whenever an American sea vessel is sailing the South China Sea. Poling made a critical observation that China can only monitor surface vessels moving in the SCS, but they might have American submarines as their weakeness, because they are not detectable.

Vietnamese state that the Chinese Ship was intentionally blocking two more fishing vessels, trying to rescue their comrade and it was a 'sham' that Chinese were intent on rescuing drowning fishermen. Beijing says it was a 'rescue' operation, omitting the fact Vietnamese alleged the intentional 'ramming'.