Vietnam accuses China of “brutal” behavior in the South China Sea

vietnam accused Chinese law enforcement on Sunday of a “brutal” attack on a Vietnamese fishing vessel that threatened the lives of crew members in disputed waters of the South China Sea.

A suspected attack by Chinese law enforcement on a Vietnamese fishing vessel from the central province of Quang Ngai resulted in injuries to 10 crew members, including three with broken bones, state-run Tien Phong newspaper reported.

Vietnam has a long-standing territorial dispute in the South China Sea with China, which claims most of the area as its territory – a claim that overlaps with separate claims by Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, as well as the Philippines.

Read more: China is testing how hard it can push in the South China Sea before anyone strikes back

“Vietnam is extremely concerned, outraged and strongly opposes the brutal actions of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in Vietnam’s Paracel Archipelago,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Pham Thu Hang said by email Wednesday evening.

Vietnam protested the incident in talks with the Chinese embassy in Hanoi. The ministry called on “China to fully respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel Archipelago, promptly investigate and inform Vietnam of the results, and not repeat similar actions.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the Vietnamese boats had been fishing “illegally” in the waters of the Paracel Islands without permission from the Chinese government. The Chinese authorities had taken measures to stop them, it said.

“The operation on site was professional and restrained, and no injuries were reported,” the State Department said in response to questions from Bloomberg News. “China does not accept Vietnam’s so-called ‘protest’ and has firmly rejected it.”

The US also expressed deep concern about reports of “dangerous actions” by Chinese police ships against Vietnamese fishing boats.

Beijing has issued a series of regulations in recent years to enforce its claims in the South China Sea. These include the adoption of new maritime patrol regulations earlier this year that allow the detention of foreign ships and people suspected by law enforcement of illegally entering China’s territorial waters.

Read more: Why the US faces a delicate balancing act in countering China in the South China Sea

“This signals the laws that China passed this year and are now only recently being applied,” said Carl Thayer, professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales, comparing the incident to recent collisions with Philippine supply ships elsewhere in the South China Sea . “Everyone else should take note.”

Vietnam’s Tien Phong reported that the attackers were accused of confiscating about four tons of seafood and smashing equipment and removing it from the boat. Losses were estimated at 500 million dong ($20,220), it said.

Vietnam and the Philippines signed two memorandums of understanding in August, including one on maritime humanitarian assistance, while a broader security agreement is expected to be finalized later this year. In June, Vietnam offered the Philippines talks over overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, as Manila complains of increasingly violent clashes with Chinese ships in disputed waters.