Vietnam has affirmed its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos and protested against China’s recent acts relating to the two archipelagos.

“The Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos are inseparable parts of Vietnam’s territory,” the Vietnam Foreign Ministry’s representative told the Chinese Embassy’s representative in Hanoi, in response to China’s acts violating Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos.

Recently, the State Oceanic Administration of China released the “2011 China Ocean Development Report”, in which it claimed China’s sovereignty over the East Sea and the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, printed some maps drawing the “U-shaped line” claim on the East Sea, unveiled its plan on exploration of oil and gas in the Truong Sa archipelago area and launch of tours to the Hoang Sa archipelago.

Additionally, on May 16, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported that China Mobile announced expanded mobile services coverage to include the Truong Sa archipelago area.

During the meeting with the Chinese Embassy’s representative, the Vietnamese side stressed that China’s acts violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos and Vietnam’s rights of sovereignty and jurisdiction over the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in line with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

All acts of other countries including release of reports, issuance of legal documents relating to the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos as well as the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Vietnam without the nation’s permission have no legal value, the Vietnamese representative said.

Vietnam requested that China respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos, attach importance to the two countries’ relations, build trust and not undertake any actions to make the situation on the sea more complicated./.