Prof. Dr Wilfried Lulei – a scientist in Asian studies has confirmed China’s placement of its Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig is a serious violation of international law.

China’s flagrant violations of international law have been the focus of opposition from many regional countries and those around the world.

According to Lulei, China’s move is in clear defiance and flies in the face of the justified and rightful territorial sovereignty claims as well as interests of Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

Professor Lulei also voiced his support for Vietnam's proposals on demanding China immediately stop its actions on the basis of respect for the UN 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed by China and ASEAN countries in 2002.

In response to China’s aggressive acts disregarding Vietnam’s proper proposals, Pro. Lulei stated that dissident opinions among countries on the sovereign rights and claims over two Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos can not be solved by force but only through peaceful negotiations.

To resolve disagreements, it is imperative to conduct bilateral dialogues between Vietnam and China as well as multilateral negotiations with the participation of other countries directly concerned, and those touched upon by economic, political benefits as well as security, Mr Lulei noted.

He said that dialogues, negotiations must lead to bilateral and multilateral agreements in which benefits in terms of history, culture, economics and politics of Vietnam as well as other countries concerned must be respected.

Lulei also urged relevant parties to immediately cease threatening to use force in the current tense situation.

Sharing the world public’s condemnation of China’s illegal placement of an oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the East Sea, Prof. Dr. Kim Tae-wan, head of the Political Science Department under the Republic of Korea’s Dong-eui University has stated that China’s act has violated the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Based on the UNCLOS, a State has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind, in an exclusive economic zone (EEZ),

He added that the EEZ stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles from a country’s coast.

VOV/VNN