China has dispatched fighter jets to join the group of vessels tasked with guarding oil rig HD 981 illegally planted in Vietnam’s waters, infringing the Southeast Asian country’s sea and airspace sovereignty, Colonel Ngo Ngoc Thu, Vice Commander and Chief of Staff of Vietnam’s Coast Guard, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, the Vietnamese Coast Guard discovered two groups of Chinese military aircraft flying above Vietnamese ships, which have been trying to prevent the oil rig from illicitly drilling in Vietnamese waters, at a height of 800 to 1000 meters, according to Thu.
Among them were a team of fighter jets and a Chinese military aircraft bearing number 9401 flying over Vietnamese ship CSB 8003, the vice commander said.