Defend the sovereignty

The East Sea issue was once again mentioned in a specific and urgent way at the 15th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Vietnam welcomes the statement from the G7 Summit with its commitment on ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, and international law, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh.

East Sea issue is considered to be content overarching emphasis on the largest security summit in Asian region taking place in Singapore on June 3-5.

The Prime Minister recently has signed an action plan for an integrated coastal zone management strategy covering all 28 coastal localities nationwide up to 2020.

On May 27, the leaders of Industrialized Countries Group (G7) has expressed concern about increasing tensions in the East Sea.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Mexico Le Linh Lan reaffirmed Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos in the East Sea in her speech at Mexico’s national defence institute (IDENA).

On May 17, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh made a statement that China’s announcement of the time, area and measures for implementing a moratorium is worthless.

A Hung Kings Temple will be built on Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago with the aim of spreading Hung Kings worship and paying tribute to the ancestors of Vietnamese people.

A park named after the late General Vo Nguyen Giap was inaugurated after two months of construction on Son Ca Island in the Truong Sa (Spratly) district, the central province of Khanh Hoa on May 15.

On May 12, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh said at a regular press briefing that Vietnam resolutely protests and asks Chinese Taiwan to stop and not to repeat similar activities.

Maps, documents and publications on the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos are on display at Tan Lac district’s culture house in the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh.

Scholars at a recent workshop at Yale University, the US state of Connecticut, have adduced evidence to prove that China’s sovereignty claims in the East Sea (internationally known as South China Sea) are not true.

On May 5, President Tran Dai Quang made the statement at a warm reception for Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hong Xiaoyong in Hanoi that China and Vietnam should resolve maritime disputes peacefully.

The French Navy’s amphibious assault ship Tonnerre, with about 200 cadets on board, arrived at Cam Ranh International Port in coastal central Khanh Hoa province on May 2 for a five-day visit.

The Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Navy force held a delegation to visit the Truong Sa (Spartly) archipelago and the rig DK1 from April 18-24.

Vietnamese corvette 381 sailed for Brunei and Singapore on April 28 to take part in military exercises as part of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+).

Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, launched a Gepard 3.9 class frigate in Russia on April 27.

The ASEAN countries need to have a unanimous voice on the East Sea security and navigation safety issue, Vietnamese Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich has said at a meeting with his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwan in Moscow, Russia.

On April 25, more than 200 youngsters nationwide took a journey from Cat Lai port in HCM City to islands in Truong Sa (Spartly) archipelago and platform DK1, an important economics-science-service complex.

Vietnam and China has recently completed their joint survey of waters off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin.