Vietnam’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh has informed about China’s illegal placement of its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 in Vietnam’s waters before the international public attention.

Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh on July 6 led a Vietnamese permanent mission to attend the Ethnic Festival and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party in Geneva (Switzerland) as the honorary guest.

The festival was attended by numerous members of the Workers’ Party in Geneva, the Communist Party of Switzerland, the Labour Party of Spain, the Swiss-Vietnam Association and the locals.

In his address welcoming the Vietnamese delegation, Geneva Workers’ Party Chairman René Ecuyer praised Vietnam as a heroic nation which unyieldingly struggled for national independence and freedom and is currently going ahead with socio-economic development process towards a just, democratic and civilized society.

Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh briefed his hosts on Vietnam’s overall economic situation and what is going on in the East Sea since China put it giant drilling platform in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

He also clarified the process of forming the disputed Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos of Vietnam in the East Sea, affirming the country’s consistent stance on using every peaceful mean in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to resolve disputes thus maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world at large.

International friends hailed the content shared by Vietnam which helped them better understand the ongoing situation in the East Sea.

Recently, friendship associations between Vietnam and many countries including Switzerland, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands released a statement strongly opposing China's infringement upon Vietnam’s EEZ and continental shelf which is a serious violation of international law and requested China to immediately terminate any threat to Vietnam as well as to regional peace and stability.

Also at the festival, the Switzerland- Vietnam Association’s information desk introduced cultural products about Vietnamese land and people, publications, and universal periodic review (UPR) on the human rights situation in Vietnam.

Documents regarding Vietnam’s stance on its sovereignty in the East Sea and East Sea disputes were also exhibited and distributed to delegates.