Accordingly, in waters about 20 nautical miles east of Bach Long Vi island, the Hai Phong City Border Guard Command in coordination with Naval Flotilla 38, (Vietnam Border Guard Command), and the Coast Guard Region 1 Command, organized the handover of two trawlers and 10 distressed fishermen at sea to Chinese law enforcement forces. The trawlers and fishermen, all Chinese nationals, had previously been rescued and provided humanitarian assistance by the city’s border guards.

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The Hai Phong City Border Guard Command and the Chinese coast guard force agree on and sign the handover minutes.

The fishermen were in stable physical condition. Notably, the city’s border guards also handed over to Chinese law enforcement authorities all images and video footage documenting the rescue operation and vessel repairs.

The Chinese side expressed sincere gratitude to the Party, State, government, the Vietnam Border Guard, and functional forces.

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Senior Colonel Nguyen Duc Hanh, Second-in-Command and Chief of Staff of the Hai Phong City Border Guard Command, presents gifts to Chinese fishermen at the handover.

After the handover, both sides held discussions and reached strong consensus on further strengthening close cooperation in line with the orientations of the Parties, governments, and Ministries of National Defense of the two countries. Priority areas include enhancing coordination in managing and safeguarding sovereignty over sea and islands; combating IUU fishing and other crimes at sea; maintaining smooth communication channels; and closely coordinating in disaster prevention, response, and search and rescue operations, thereby contributing to building waters of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

Translated by Chung Anh