Making the statement on January 10 in response to reporters who asked for Viet Nam’s reaction to those acts by the Chinese side, Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi further said they also violated Viet Nam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction in the East Sea under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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 Viet Nam’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 Viet Nam 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.
Viet Nam demands China stop those wrongful acts and make practical contributions to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region, the spokesman said.
