(BGF) – The Bloomberg News shared a story of Vietnamese Lt. Colonel Phan Duy Cuong about his combat with Chinese vessels in waters near islands claimed by both nations in the South China Sea. It also calls the situation as “playing a daily game of cat and mouse” in rough seas as China shields the rig with its vessels.
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China Plays Cat and Mouse With Vietnam Coast Guard on Rig
May 17, 2014
A Chinese coast guard vessel, right, fires a water cannon at a Vietnamese vessel off the coast of Vietnam. (Photo Credit: Vietnam Coast Guard).
From his Vietnamese Coast Guard boat at night, Lt. Colonel Phan Duy Cuong can see the yellow lights of an oil rig 10 nautical miles away. Owned by a Chinese company, it sits in waters near islands claimed by both nations in the South China Sea.
Dozens of ships clutter the area, playing a daily game of cat and mouse in rough seas as China shields the rig with its vessels. At stake is the resource-rich waters around the contested Paracel Islands, in a dispute that has soured ties between the two Communist nations as China steps up its territorial assertions in the region.
An officer on Coast Guard vessel No. 8003, Cuong said his boat motored to 6.5 nautical miles from the rig today before being flanked and chased off by two Chinese coast guard ships that came as close as 400 meters (1,312 feet), blasting horns and playing recordings stating China’s sovereignty over the area. Four times the Chinese boats cut in front of the Vietnamese ship, he said.
Cuong said his vessel, which has been at sea since May 5 with 50 crew, got to 6 nautical miles yesterday from the rig before being forced back, and he saw a Vietnamese ship rammed. Crew members in the cabin relayed the boat’s position to superiors onshore as they pulled back.
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