Defend the sovereignty

In June 2012, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) illegally invited bids for nine oil blocks off the coast of central Vietnam. China’s aims and strategies have not changed then as it wants to control the East Sea and then share the Pacific Ocean with the US.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung in the northern province of Quang Ninh inspected Viet Nam’s largest fishery surveillance vessel KN-781 which will be delivered this month.

The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) has published documents in Han (Chinese script) and Nom (Vietnamese ideographic script) affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos and its waters in the East Sea.

During the past months, many foreign experts and scholars voiced their concern over China’s illegal placement of Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig in the East Sea.

Defending the national sovereignty requires sacrifices but it is the fine tradition of Vietnamese people that has been consolidated throughout the history.

Xisha islands - Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago – should belong to Vietnam as both mainland China and Taiwan have never actually controlled this territory, said Chinese citizen Zhang Pei Qiang.

The Chinese ship 11209 rammed the DNa 90152 near a drilling rig China illegally placed in Vietnam’s waters. The Vietnamese trawler had been on a regular fishing voyage when it was deliberately encircled by Chinese fishing vessels and attacked by ship 11209.

Possessing a coastline of 3,260 kilometres and nearly 3,000 islands and islets, including the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, Vietnam has to ensure maritime security, since it is extremely important to her social affairs, economics, defence, security and the environment.

U.S.Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel`s statement in regional security forum Shangri - la Dialogue in Singapore this year is probably the most obvious manifestations of the US `s views on China strengthening territorial disputes with other nations in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam’s permanent mission to the United Nations has sent a letter to the organisation’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, asking him to circulate as an official document of the 68th session of the General Assembly a diplomatic note from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Vietnam has asked the United Nations to take international jurisdiction over the East Sea territorial dispute and put an end to China’s blatant violation of international law and continued provocations in the region.

In an article recently published on Indonesia’s Jakarta Post, Vietnamese ambassador to Indonesia Nguyen Xuan Thuy has slammed a Chinese diplomat’s statement that says the Xisha (Paracel) Islands “are an inherent territory of China.”

On May 30, a group of 35 fishing ships and two coast guard ships of China encircled and threatened Vietnamese fishing vessels which were operating 30-35 nautical miles from a drilling rig China illegally placed in Vietnam’s waters.

In an interview granted CNN on May 29, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Vinh voiced strong opposition to China’s illegal deployment of the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig in Vietnam’s territorial waters.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Nguyen Xuan Thuy had his article “Another side of the dispute in the SCS” on the Jakarta Post published on May 25 to challenge the groundless claims by Liu Hongyang, chargé d’affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia.

China yesterday continued to maintain a fleet of 122 ships around the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 that it has placed in Viet Nam`s waters, according to the Viet Nam Fisheries Surveillance Department.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, expressed her special concern over China’s recently acts in the East Sea, saying these acts would affect the security environment in the region.

The escalating tension in the East Sea, a key navigation route as well as a site believed to habour vast deposits of oil, did and will have considerable implications for regional security, foreign scholars said at a round-table workshop in Singapore.

The Central Committee of Vietnam Students’ Association (VSA) has expressed strong objection to China’s illegal installation of the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig in Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

Vietnamese ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong has stressed that Vietnam wants to maintain long-held friendly relations with China, but it does not accept any acts of coercion or threat.