Representatives of many countries attending the ongoing Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting in Algiers shared views of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Vietnam in the current East Sea issue after being updated with the latest developments.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, who led the Vietnamese delegation to the meeting, informed participants of China’s illegal placement of its rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 deep inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Delegates emphasised the need to observe the basic principles of the movement and international relations, including the principles of respecting international law, the UN Charter, national sovereignty and territorial integrity, peace co-existence, without use of force or threaten to use force.

Participants agreed to adopt the meeting’s document with updates on the East Sea developments proposed by ASEAN.

Earlier on May 26-27, head of the Vietnamese permanent delegation at the United Nations, Ambassador Le Hoai Trung attended the senior officials’ meeting to prepare the document.

At the SOM meeting, ASEAN members called on the ministerial meeting to support ASEAN’s united stance on the issue, emphasising that tensions in the East Sea threaten peace, stability in Southeast Asia and the world in general.

Heads of Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia SOM delegations opposed actions leading to tensions in the East Sea, calling for a settlement of the disputes through peaceful negotiations based on international law.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ngoc had contacts with heads of some delegations to the meeting such as Colombia, Turkey, Venezuela, Syria to boost bilateral cooperation and share views in the East Sea on the sidelines of the meeting.

At the beginning of May, China illegally dispatched the Haiyang Shiyou-981 rig, as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships and aircraft, to Vietnam’s waters and positioned the rig at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 12 minutes 06 seconds east longitude. The location is 80 miles deep inside Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

On May 27, China moved the rig to the new location 23 nautical miles from the old site. With the move, China has kept on violating Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction.

Chinese ships have repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons into Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries surveillance ships which are carrying out their law enforcement missions in the country’s waters, leaving many Vietnamese ships damaged and many fisheries surveillance officers injured.-VNA