VietNamNet Bridge – China’s recent acts concerning the East Sea are illegal and of no value, and seriously violating Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes. 

 

 

 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi was speaking on January 10 in response to reporters’ questions concerning Vietnam’s reaction to those acts by the Chinese side.

Nghi further said they also violated Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction in the East Sea under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The acts include the Chinese authorities’ adoption of a draft amendment of its fisheries law, the imposition of a ban of fishing activities in a number of areas that fall within Vietnam’s sovereignty and sovereign right in the East Sea, the publication of the first web and print newspaper of the so-called “Sansha City”, and the upgrade of a meteorological station in areas belonging to the Truong Sa archipelago.

They are not in line with the agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of the issues on the sea between Vietnam and China, the official said, adding those acts run counter to the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) between ASEAN and China and further complicate the situation in the East Sea.

Vietnam demands China stop those wrongful acts and make practical contributions to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region, the spokesman said.

VNA