China dispatched a fishing enforcement ship to the disputed Paracel Islands, an agency under the country's farm ministry said, in a move likely to fuel tension with rival claimant Vietnam days before a senior Chinese official visits Hanoi, Reuters reports. A 400-ton vessel left China's southern city of Guangzhou and headed for the islands in the South China Sea, the ministry of agriculture said on Wednesday on the Guangdong province Fisheries Administration Bureau website ({非本站网址}).
"This will further strengthen law enforcement efforts of the fisheries in the Paracel Islands, protect the production order of the fisheries and the safety of fishermen, and effectively safeguard China's maritime sovereignty and fisheries interests," Guo Jinfu, the bureau's deputy secretary, said.
The deployment of the ship, the No. 306, comes as China's top diplomat, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, prepares to visit Vietnam starting on Monday.
Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim some island territories in the South China Sea.
China's claim cover the largest area and includes the Paracel area, composed of uninhabitable small islands, rich fishing grounds and thought to hold significant oil and gas deposits.
"This indicates China has already established the capability of around-the-clock fisheries legal enforcement in and around the Paracel Islands maritime region," China's official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
Tensions over the contested South China Sea flared in June, setting China against Vietnam and the Philippines, with China's recent military build-up triggering regional jitters that have fed into disputes.
On Friday, Philippines President Benigno Aquino ends a four-day trip to China where he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier in the week. Both sought to cast aside months of hostility over territorial wrangling.
Hu told Aquino that the South China Sea issue should be resolved peacefully through negotiation. Aquino said later that the two had agreed on the need for a binding code of conduct in the area.