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Members of the inter-sectoral working group raise Thai Binh province's fishermen’s awareness of the combat against IUU fishing. |
It was the seventh joint patrol in the aforementioned waters between the coast guard forces of Vietnam and China since the Vietnam-China agreement on fishery cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin expired on June 30, 2020.
Participating in this joint patrol were Vietnamese coast guard ships 8004 and 8002, led by Senior Colonel Luong Cao Khai, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard Region 1 Command; and Chinese ships 4301 and 4203, headed by Liu Tianrong, Deputy Director of the China Coast Guard’s Nanhai Bureau.
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Checking papers of a Vietnamese fishing vessel |
In the distance of 255.5 nautical miles, from 13 nautical miles Southeast of Tran Island to 48 nautical miles Northeast of Con Co Island on the Gulf of Tonkin demarcation line, the two sides patrolled 13 points. During task performance, the coast guard forces of Vietnam and China held talks, phone talks; checked and monitored operations of fishing vessels of the two countries in the adjacent waters; and disseminated information about law observance when fishing at sea among fishermen.
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Checking a trawler of Quang Ngai operating along the Gulf of Tonkin demarcation line |
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The hand flags signal a checking request to the Vietnamese fishing vessel. |
Attentively, in this second edition of the year, the Vietnamese coast guard force formed inter-sectoral working groups to conduct direct checks and grasping of the Vietnamese fishing boats’ observance of legal regulations and the European Commission’s recommendations on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
In the phone talks with Mr. Liu Tianrong, Senior Colonel Luong Cao Khai emphasized that the joint patrol would be the first of the successes of the wide range of cooperation events between the Vietnam Coast Guard and the Chinese Coast Guard, including the Vietnamese coast guard ship 8002's upcoming friendly visit to Guangzhou city and exchange with the Chinese coast guard force, and the seventh working conference between the two coast guard forces in China.
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Senior Colonel Luong Cao Hai (right, front) in a phone talks after the joint patrol |
According to the Vietnamese official, in the time ahead the coast guard forces of Vietnam and China will organize a number of exchange activities to strengthen and develop their relationship with the Coast Guard Region 1 Command and Nanhai Bureau as the key. So, both forces have to practically and effectively coordinate to meet the set task requirements.
The joint patrol was wrapped up successfully with safety in all aspects. Both sides made close coordination, and well implemented all approved contents and plans.
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The Vietnamese coast guards say goodbye to their peers, ending the joint patrol. |
The two heads of the joint patrol forces expressed their hopes that the two sides will continue to bring into play the outcomes reaped over the past years to maintain a sea environment of peace, security, order, and safety, thus fostering the friendship, solidarity, cooperation and development in the Gulf of Tonkin. The success of this patrol will be a motivation for the further development of the relations between the two parties, states, and peoples in general, and the coast guard forces of the two countries in particular.
Reported by Thanh Huong and Vu Hung
Translated by Mai Huong