Vietnam has asked Malaysia to treat detained Vietnamese fishermen humanely and handle issues relating to Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels in line with international law, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on August 20.

China announced its annual summer fishing ban in parts of the South China Sea (called the East Sea in Vietnam), Xinhua news agency reported on May 1. China has been issuing similar fishing bans every year in recent times and Vietnam has always condemned them.