Vietnam has vented a number of frustrations over the slow pace of economic cooperation with China, even as the two nations agreed to speed up the establishment of a hotline to deal with marine fisheries incidents.
In high-level talks on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh vowed to properly handle their maritime disputes over the South China Sea and further boost bilateral ties.
In the meeting with Wang, Pham said neither China nor Vietnam should complicate the South China Sea disputes, as they reached agreement to cooperate in search and rescue at sea missions, as well as to establish a hotline for unexpected fishing activities “at an early date”.
Fishing is one of the contentious issues faced by the two countries in the South China Sea.
In May, the US-led Quad group said it would launch a new initiative to track “dark shipping” and monitor illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific region.
Dark ships are vessels that turn off their AIS transponders to hide their location and identities, usually to conceal activities such as illegal fishing or unauthorised entry into another country’s waters.
China’s fishing fleet, which includes privately owned vessels and commercial trawlers from state-owned companies, has been travelling further afield, seeking new fishing grounds in Southeast Asia, West Africa, South America and in the South Pacific as a result of depleted fish stocks in Chinese waters.
But Chinese fleets have often been accused of defying international law to carry out illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, using prohibited equipment, capturing protected species such as turtles and seals, and abusing migrant crews, according to a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation.