VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese Community in Singapore has expressed their anger at China’s perverse act of positioning a drilling rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

In a letter sent to Vietnamese leaders on May 12, the Liaison Committee of the Vietnamese Community in Singapore affirmed that the Vietnamese in Singapore are willing to return home to join with their fellows in building and protecting the country.

In the letter, they stated that China’s current move in the East Sea is a brutal violation of international law as well as the principles on peaceful conduct committed by China and Southeast Asian countries.

Meanwhile, the Association of Vietnamese Students in France also issued a statement calling on all Vietnamese students in the country to unite with people at home in strongly condemning China’s illegal act, demanding that it withdraw the Haiyang Shiyou- 981 out of Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

The statement, released on May 10, clarified that China’s escalating actions are totally against international law and a severe violation of Vietnam’s sea and island sovereignty.

“It is an undeniable act of invasion,” the statement said.

China’s dangerous and frenzied act is a carefully calculated plot aiming to occupy the East Sea, which seriously violates sovereign right and jurisdiction of Vietnam as prescribed in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it said.

The move also badly infringes the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea as well as other relevant agreements reached by the two countries’ leaders, escalating tensions, igniting violation, causing difficulties for sea-related sovereignty dispute negotiations, threatening peace, maritime safety, security and freedom of navigation in the East Sea, and harming peace and stability in the region and the world, said the statement.

The Vietnamese community in various countries around the world such as Germany, Japan, the Czech Republic, Italy and Mozambique, have also held activities to protest China’s illegal deed.

Source: Vietnam Plus