Vietnamplus

China’s construction of large-scale artificial islands in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago and its deployment of weaponry to these islands have brazenly violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, concerning neighbouring countries and the international community regarding security, safety and freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea.

US President Barack Obama has stated that China’s illegal construction projects in the East Sea are counter-productive and called for an end to aggressive action in the region.

An exhibition featuring photos on China’s artificial island-building activity at Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelagos in the East Sea is running in the Republic of Korea (RoK) from May 31 to June 15.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff of China's People's Liberation Army, Sun Jianguo, told the 14 th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31 that the situation on the East Sea is generally peaceful and stable.

Leading experts and scholars from US universities and institutes came together at a workshop in Washington last weekend to discuss the convergence of marine science and geopolitics in the East Sea.

The US on May 21 announced that it will maintain air and sea patrols in international waters after the Chinese Navy repeatedly warned a US surveillance plane to leave the airspace above the international waters in the East Sea.

French and Vietnamese-French students studying at the Paris Diderot University in Paris attended a workshop on the East Sea at the university on May 21.

The territorial disputes in East Sea was the centre of discussions at a conference titled ‘ASEAN Maritime Space Management – Ideas for Argentina’, which was held on May 20 at the Interamerican Open University (UAI) in Argentina’s capital city of Buenos Aires.

A workshop focusing on recent tensions in the East Sea was held on May 20 in Brussels, Belgium by the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations and the Philippine Embassy in the country.

The French Institute for International and Strategic Relations and the Gabriel Peri Foundation held a workshop in Paris on May 19 to highlight new tensions in the East Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh has voiced strong protest over China’s announcement of a fishing ban in the East Sea, saying that the act violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and sovereign right and jurisdiction over the waters under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Vietnam welcomes efforts of the international community, including the US in maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the East Sea.

US senators testified before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about the East Sea situation on May 13, expressing deep concern over China’s massive land reclamation on reef islands in the East Sea.

A new book of poems by researchers Nguyen Nha and Mai Trinh Do Thi has just been published in Ho Chi Minh City.

The dispute over territorial waters in the East Sea, and other issues concerning law, politics and diplomacy, were discussed at a workshop in New York on May 4.