Hanoi detains 9 Chinese boats

Hanoi detains 9 Chinese boats

VIETNAM: Vietnam's coast guard seized nine Chinese boats with 179 crew members on board last week for illegally fishing in Vietnamese waters in the Gulf of Tonkin, officials said on Monday.

The vessels were intercepted on Friday off the central coastal province of Quang Binh by a regular coast guard patrol, a border guard official said.

The boats and the fishermen were taken to the port of Gianh where they were being held while an investigation was carried out.

Ideological soul mates but traditional foes, Vietnam and China signed an accord in December 2000 setting out their borders in the Gulf of Tonkin in a bid to end a dispute which provoked a border war in 1979. But the accord has not been ratified. --AFP