Vietnam's fishermen should avoid entering "disputed areas", a senior military official was quoted as saying Friday after armed Chinese vessels reportedly intercepted Vietnamese boats.
"We are encouraging the fishermen to catch in already defined areas. They should not enter disputed sea areas," said General Le Van Dung, head of the Vietnam People's Army political department, according to the Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper.
Vietnam's foreign ministry said last Sunday that China had ordered a fishing ban in some areas of the South China Sea "including those under Vietnam's sovereignty."
It said China had increased its patrols and made more arrests in the areas, part of what it calls the East Sea.
Vietnamese fishermen have reported being intercepted by armed Chinese patrol ships, and in the central coast province of Phu Yen hundreds of vessels are now sitting idle, with their crews reluctant to leave port, even though this is peak fishing season, Thanh Nien newspaper has reported.
A long-standing dispute between Vietnam and China over sovereignty of two South China Sea archipelagos, the Spratlys and Paracels, has recently escalated.
Dung said most of the vessels recently intercepted were in the border area, which some boats lack the equipment to detect.
"Solution to the dispute must be based on diplomatic negotiation," Dung was quoted as saying.
Vietnam and China fought a brief naval battle in 1988 near one of the Spratly reefs in which more than 50 Vietnamese sailors died.
Two years ago a Chinese naval vessel fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Spratlys, sinking the boat and killing one sailor, reports said.
The Spratlys and Paracels are considered strategic outposts, potentially rich in resources.
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