What happened?
On Thursday March 15, 2012, 21 Vietnamese were detained for illegal fishing around islands in the South China Sea; however, the Vietnamese believe that they were fishing in their own waters and not outside of their boundaries.
Vietnam and China both have claims in the South China Sea and to islands and reefs. Because of this, many feuds occur between fishermen as the industry is very competitive and there is profit potential.
As seen in the map below, the territory boundaries are hard to read and overlap. Because they are so vaguely defined, situations like this one will continue to rise and cause problems for the governments holding territories as well as the fishing industry. The South China Sea is an area of growing concern over conflicting territorial claims, piracy, poaching, resource depletion, pollution, drug trafficking, illegal migration, and terrorism threats.
How does China see the situation?
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, more than 100 Vietnamese fishing boats trespass in the Parcel Islands where they take part in illegal fishing. Because the Chinese aren’t able to keep them out of their territory, the authorities had to investigate this Vietnamese boat with the 21 fisherman and hold them to the laws so that this may serve as a warning to other trespassing fisherman and keep the Chinese in the fishing industry a market leader. With the Vietnamese fishing in the Chinese territory, they are overstepping on China’s control and maritime rights, and because of this the Vietnamese wanting to be released unconditionally most likely won’t happen.
Since the Vietnamese believe they did nothing wrong, they probably won’t take any steps to ensure that active procedures will be taken to prevent the fishermen from trespassing. Chinese authorities aren’t trying to bully Vietnam, but rather they are enforcing the law and providing a logical consequence for the illegal action. Even though it costs the Chinese money to enforce and detain the Vietnamese, they are sending a message while protecting an industry that many of its citizens actively participate in and earn an income from.
What’s the Vietnamese side of the story?
According to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, China violated their sovereignty. Vietnam insists that China release these 21 fishermen and their vessels. In addition to releasing their people, Vietnam also is urging China to stop detaining the Vietnamese fishermen in the waters of Vietnam.
How does a Vietnamese fisherman feel about this?
The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry issued a statement demanding the release of the fishermen whom they claimed were being held for a payment of $11,000. The Vietnamese government told the families of the fishermen to not pay while the government argues to China for their release. With this recent incident, there has been a lot of pressure put on local people, says fisherman Le Van Loc from Quang Ngai province. He had been detained by the Chinese while he was sailing near the islands in 2010. Loc says, as a Vietnamese citizen, he is angry because the islands belong to Vietnam. He says families are told not to pay the ransom while the government demands the release of those detained (Voice of America). This had made life difficult for families emotionally as well as financially.
Have there been any attempts to resolve this?
This incident is the most recent in an ongoing disagreement about territory in the South China Sea. Last year, both sides signed a series of maritime agreements in hopes of resolving tensions. However, Vietnam has continued to protest Chinese activity on or near the islands.
As stated by Reuters, “A representative from Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry met with the Chinese embassy to give them a diplomatic note outlining Vietnam’s position, and will continue the fight to resolve this matter and protect the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese fishermen.” Because the fishing industry is growing and Vietnam will go after some of China’s market share, in order to resolve this situation, more needs to be done.
A Possible Resolution
China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan all have claims to territory in the South China Sea. China’s claim is the largest, covering a big U-shape over most of the sea’s 648,000 sq. miles (Reuters). But just because China has the most, doesn’t mean it has all of it. These nations should all meet in attempt to better define borders of their territories as well as ways to police the borders. Unfortunately, China refuses to handle any disputes with more than one nation present. With one-on-one meetings, it seems that China has a “divide-and-conquer” attitude to the fishing industry.
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