Vietnam Encourages Fishermen to Defy China South China Sea Ban

Vietnam’s government on Tuesday encouraged the nation’s fishermen to keep operating around the disputed Paracel Islands despite China’s unilaterally-imposed fishing ban in the South China Sea, and directed provincial authorities to support Vietnamese fishermen at sea. That statement of defiance from Hanoi, calling the ban “invalid,” came as an oil exploration ship contracted by another South China Sea claimant, Malaysia, ended a survey off further south, off the Malaysian coast. The ship has been shadowed by Chinese vessels for the past month.

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