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Hanoi (AFP) May 19, 2011 Two Vietnamese fishermen were shot and wounded in disputed South China Sea waters, a police chief said Thursday, citing the victims' relatives. The incident happened last Saturday in the Spratly archipelago, said Tieu Viet Thanh, police chief of Binh Chau commune in coastal Quang Ngai province. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim all or part of the island group, where tensions have risen recently. Relatives of the sailors told police that the shooters wore uniforms of the Philippines but a military spokesman in Manila said there were no reports of incidents in the Spratlys. "We definitely would not open fire. Rules of engagement say you do not use gunfire except in self-defence," Commodore Mike Rodriguez said. The Vietnamese boat captain, Nguyen Tan Luan, 39, and crewman Le Quang Tu, were shot and wounded, said Thanh. He emphasised that, so far, police have only received information from the sailors' relatives, who said Philippines forces attacked the sailors. "They could not identify whether the attackers were naval forces or sea police of the Philippines," he said. "They were wearing uniforms from the Philippines." The shooters took food, fuel and fish from the Vietnamese, he added. There were 14 people on the Vietnamese boat, which took the wounded to Malaysia for treatment. "The injuries are not serious", Thanh said, adding that the boat was seaworthy and heading home. Vietnamese fishermen have most commonly complained about encounters with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, where both nations have a long-standing dispute over sovereignty of the Spratlys and the more northerly Paracel archipelago. The island chains are in potentially energy-rich areas straddling strategic shipping lanes. Manila said last month it planned to boost patrols around the Spratlys after complaining that Chinese patrol boats had harassed a Philippine oil exploration vessel. Taiwan says its coast guard will undergo rigorous training in response to China's more assertive stance in the South China Sea.
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