The Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF) on June 27 issued the second statement protesting China’s repeated use of force in the East Sea to change Vietnam’s sovereignty status quo over its waters there.

It said on May 2, China illegally placed its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou – 981 deep inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the East Sea.

Since then, China has maintained and increased a large number of escort ships around the rig, even up to over 130, including missile mounted, patrol, coast guard, transport, fishing ships and several aircraft, in defiance of the protest across Vietnam and the world public.

Chinese ships fired water cannons and brazenly rammed into Vietnamese law enforcement and fishing ships, leaving them damaged and their officials and fishermen injured, it said.

The confrontation turned grave on May 26 when a Chinese ship sank a Vietnamese fishing boat with 10 fishermen aboard right in Vietnam’s traditional fishing ground in the south-western area of the rig. It later fled the scene, leaving them in distress.

Far worse, five Chinese ships encircled and obstructed Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ship 951 from moving closer to the rig on June 23-24. One of them later sped up and rammed into the side of the ship.
At a press conference hosted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on June 24, its spokesman once again slandered that Vietnamese ships intentionally crashed and damaged Chinese ships.

Earlier on June 8, China submitted misleading materials to the United Nations General Assembly, slandering Vietnam of provoking and attacking its ships.

Such actions have exposed China’s perversity and fabrication, and the fact that China is unilaterally using its force and well-hatched steps to monopolise the East Sea.

The VBF made it clear that China has violated the United Nations Charter, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and the China- Vietnam high-level agreement on principles guiding the settlement of issues at sea.

It spoke out against China’s inhumane acts that have caused huge property and casualty losses to Vietnamese law enforcement officials and fishermen, asking it to immediately pull the rig out of the area and offer compensation to Vietnamese victims.

In the statement, the VBF suggested the government file a lawsuit against China to international jurisdiction agencies. It vowed to rally support of their counterparts at home and the world community to Vietnam’s fight for justice.-VNA