After yesterday’s ‘Vietnamese boat sinking’ incident, two very different accounts emerged regarding the event. Vietnam’s coastguard reports that a Chinese vessel rammed and sunk a Vietnamese fishing ship in the contested waters off Vietnam’s coast, while Chinese accounts state that the Vietnamese boat capsized after harassing Chinese ship. Somehow we’re not surprised. Here are the differing accounts in their entirety:
From the Vietnamese coastguard via Reuters:
A Chinese boat rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel not far from where China has stationed a massive oil rig in disputed waters of the South China Sea, the head of Vietnam’s coastguard said on Tuesday.
Vietnamese fishing boats operating nearby rescued the 10 fishermen on board following the incident on Monday, said coastguard commander Nguyen Quang Dam.
He said the ramming occurred 17 nautical miles from the rig, which has been deployed between the Paracel islands occupied by China and the Vietnamese coast.
“A Vietnamese boat from the central city of Da Nang was deliberately encircled by 40 fishing vessels from China before it was attacked by a Chinese ship,” Dam told Reuters by telephone.
From Xinhua via Rueters:
A Vietnamese fishing vessel capsized in disputed waters in the South China Sea on Monday after “harassing and colliding” with a Chinese fishing boat, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.
“Crew aboard the boat were saved after their ship jostled a fishing boat from Dongfang City in southern China’s Hainan province and overturned in the waters near China’s Xisha Islands,” Xinhua said, citing a government source.
China’s government has launched solemn representations with Vietnam over the incident, Xinhua said.
Who do you believe? Commence the Vietnam-China verbal dogfight in the comment section.
