The foreign ministry on Tuesday urged the Vietnamese government to take effective measures to stop its fishermen from fishing illegally in waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

The remarks made by spokesman Hong Lei came in response to allegations from his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Thanh Nghi on Monday that a Chinese vessel opened fire on a Vietnamese fishing boat and burned down its cabin in the waters on March 20.

A statement posted on the Vietnamese government's website said the trawler was first chased away and then came under attack from two Chinese fishery management ships near the Xisha Islands on March 20, calling the incident a breach of international maritime law.

Vietnam demanded that China investigate and seriously deal with the incident, and compensate Vietnamese fishermen, saying this is a very serious case that violated Vietnam's sovereignty.

"Vietnam resolutely opposes this and demands China investigate and strictly deal with the above inhumane wrongdoing and compensate for the damages carried by Vietnamese fishermen," a foreign ministry statement said.

Vietnam's newspapers showed photos on Tuesday of what they said were the charred remains of the ship's cabin.

Hong said that China's actions were necessary and justified, as the boat had operated illegally in the waters, adding that checks with relevant authorities had verified that China's action caused no damage to the Vietnamese boat.

The Xisha Islands are Chinese territory, said Hong, adding that China's sovereignty over the islands is indisputable.

China urges Vietnam to take effective measures to strengthen education and management of its fishermen, and stop them from engaging in illegal activities.

Vietnam's condemnation of China was the strongest since early December, when it accused Chinese ships of sabotaging an exploration operation by its oil and gas company, Petrovietnam, by cutting a seismic cable.

However, China responded by saying Vietnam's allegations were not in accordance with the facts, as the mentioned waters are situated near the Beibu Gulf in an area where the two countries have made overlapping claims.

Global Times - Agencies