Vietnam demanded that China stop its “wrongful acts” concerning the East Sea and make practical contributions to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.
China recently took several actions regarding the East Sea, including the adoption of a draft amendment to a fisheries law, the imposition of a ban on fishing activities in a number of areas within Vietnam’s sovereignty 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.
These actions were illegal and violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, as well as Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction in the East Sea under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi.
He added that the actions were not in line with the agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Vietnam and China and ran counter to the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) between ASEAN and China.-
