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Chinese vessels rammed Vietnamese seacrafts 12 times in 2014-2018 — think tank


Data from a US-based think tank revealed that incidents similar to what happened in Recto Bank have already been experienced by Vietnamese fishermen in the past years.

A report by Sandra Aguinaldo in GMA's 24 Oras on Monday cited information from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) which showed that Chinese vessels have previously rammed Vietnamese seacrafts 12 times from 2014 to 2018.

Most of the reported incidents occurred near the Paracel Islands—some of which allegedly involved Chinese Coast Guard vessels.

The latest maritime incident involving China and Vietnam was reported in March this year.

Meanwhile, an incident closely similar to what happened in Recto Bank was recorded on September 29, 2015.

Vietnamese fishermen were resting in an anchored vessel that evening when a Chinese vessel hit it, according to the CSIS.

Five Chinese nationals allegedly even took away the fishermen's catch and navigation equipment.

The said Vietnamese boat sank after 12 hours.

Its crew was fortunately rescued by another Vietnamese vessel in the area.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had previously said it just acted on defense.

"Chinese vessels are in a defending position, and it is the Vietnamese vessels that marched as far as over 100 nautical miles to enter relevant waters and attempted to forcefully ram into Chinese defending vessels," it said in a statement. — Dona Magsino/BAP, GMA News

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