China Detains 80 Vietnamese For Illegal Fishing
Date: 29-Dec-04
Country: CHINA
Fishing rights have long been caught up in territorial disputes between China and Vietnam which, despite ideological and cultural similarities, have historically had testy relations.
"The Vietnamese fishermen are safe and their accommodation is ensured by frontier public security forces," the state-run newspaper said, quoting from a report in the Hainan Daily.
An official reached at the provincial security forces declined to comment.
China and Vietnam signed a fishing agreement in 2000 but in August 2002, Beijing stirred protest from Hanoi by banning fishing in the South China Sea, over which Vietnam claims jurisdiction.
The two communist countries also dispute sovereignty over the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, a cluster of rocks believed to be rich in oil, gas and minerals.
Vietnam detained and later released a Chinese vessel and its crew in September 2003.