Overseas Vietnamese in Switzerland together with numerous friends and peace lovers around the world joined a march in Geneva on June 27 to condemn China’s alteration of the status quo in the East Sea.

Participants also signed a letter of protest asking UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and international organisations to object to China’s perverse acts and enact necessary intervention measures to guarantee peace, stability, security and safety of aviation and navigation in the East Sea.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Youth Association in Switzerland Luu Vinh Toan delivered a speech underlining Vietnam’s legal foundation and historical evidence confirming the country’s longstanding sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spartly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos.

China’s illegal construction of artificial islands in Truong Sa is unacceptable to both Vietnamese people and the international community, he said.

Meanwhile, Chairwoman of the Switzerland-Vietnam Friendship Association Anjuska Weil called upon countries around the globe to support Vietnam in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty while raising their voice for the sake of peace, justice and a war-free world.

Many Swiss nationals expressed their indignation over China’s disregard for the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), violation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and lack of sincerity for building a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

The international community expressed its worry that after completing illegal construction projects in the Truong Sa archipelago, China could brazenly declare an Air Defence Identification Zone in the East Sea – a major threat to peace, stability, freedom, safety and security of aviation and navigation in the sea.

Experts and media from the US, Germany, Australia, India, Japan, Switzerland and ASEAN also strongly protest China ’s disrespect for international law.-VNA