A crowd of Vietnamese gathered in front of the Busan Station in the Republic of Korea (RoK), near the Chinese Consulate General in Busan city, on April 3 to protest China’s increasing violations of Vietnam’s marine sovereignty as well as international law in the East Sea.

The April 3 demonstration against China’s violations of international law in the East Sea staged by Vietnamese in the RoK

The rally was joined by members of Vietnam-Korean multicultural families and Korean peace lovers.

The protesters raised high banners in Vietnamese, English, Korean and Chinese and chanted slogans opposing China increasing illegal activities in the East Sea and its violations of Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty through the construction of large-scale man-made islands in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, and escalating militarisation in the sea area.

They also handed over a protest letter translated into Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese to the Chinese Consulate General in Busan city, requesting China to promptly stop its illegal acts in the sea and respect international law as well agreements reached by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders.

Lee Goo, a Busan resident who partook in the demonstration, told a Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent that China’s illegal activities in the East Sea in recent time are the root causes of tensions and violations of relevant countries’ interests.

Any country, regardless of its power, must observe international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. And China should not turn a deaf ear to this, he said.

The demonstration took place in peace and in line with local regulations. It ended at 3pm the same day.

This is the second protest conducted by the Vietnamese community in the RoK against China’s violations of international law in the East Sea in the past week, following another at the Seoul Central Post Office, near the headquarters of the Chinese Embassy, on March 27.

VNA