Vietnam Fisheries Society demands compensation for sunken ship The Vietnam Fisheries Society has made strong statements in opposition to China's aggressive actions towards Vietnamese fishermen in the East Sea, demanding compensation for a sunken fishing boat. According to fishermen and the Danang Fisheries Society, on May 26, a Vietnamese fishing boat carrying nine fishermen and captained by Dang Van Nhan was chased and sunk by Chinese vessels while they were fishing for aqua products. At that time, the boat was 17 nautical miles from the oil rig. Because the fishing vessels have started to travel in groups, all the crew members were rescued by other fishing boats. The Fisheries Society demanded that China make compensations of VND5 billion (USD238,000). On May 24, a fishing boat, piloted by Captain Dang Phe, and seven sailors was also rammed by a "strange" metal-amored ship in a sea area in Haiphong City. The fishing boat was heavily damaged and quickly sunk. One sailor, Dang Dum, died and another is still missing at sea.    Return of the body of Dang Dum to Ly Son Vo Van Trac, deputy head of Vietnam Fisheries Society, said, "We strongly oppose these illegal, inhuman actions from China. We demand that China make compensation and stop harassing Vietnamese fishermen within Vietnam's exclusive economic zones." According to the fisheries society, fishing boats from Ly Son Island have been consistently attacked of late. They also asked agencies to step up their efforts to protect Vietnamese fishing vessels. Lieutenant-general, Nguyen Van Rinh, the former deputy head of Ministry of Defense, said that this was not the first time Chinese ships deliberately attacked Vietnamese vessels sailing within Vietnamese waters. "This is unacceptable and must consider it as a provocation," he said. When asked whether China is preparing to escalate the situation, Rinh said all the attacks must have been calculated. He agreed that Vietnam must demand compensation and that the Coast Guard should keep an eye out for fishermen. "I think we should use all possible diplomatic channels to show our opposition. Summoning the Chinese ambassador is necessary to express our attitude," he said. By Thao Nguyen, dtinews.vn