A Vietnam Coast Guard ship is on mission around the DK1/15 oil rig. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamresolutely opposes Chinese survey vessel group Haiyang Dizhi 8’s continued serious violations of Vietnam’ssovereignty right and jurisdiction in territorial waters as defined in the 1982United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Foreign Ministry’sspokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang has said.
While answering reporters’ queries relating to Haiyang Dizhi 8’s return to Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone andcontinental shelf at a press conference on September 12, Hang said that Vietnamhas also pointed out adverse impacts of the vessel group’s violations on thefriendship between the two countries, as well as peace, security and stabilityin the East Sea and the region.
“For those reasons, Vietnam demands China to immediately stop itsserious violations and withdraw all of the vessels from Vietnam’s territorial waters,”she stressed.
Regarding China’s recentstatements on Vietnam’s economic activities in its territorial waters, thespokeswoman affirmed Vietnam’s consistent viewpoints that all of its maritimeeconomic activities, including oil and gas exploitation, have been carried outwithin Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf as defined fromthe land territory in line with the 1982 UNCLOS to which both Vietnam and Chinaare members.
Hang emphasised that the 1982 UNCLOS serves as the only legal basis for nationsto determine their territorial waters as well as their rights to theirterritorial waters, which has been observed by countries, recognized by courtsand supported by prestigious international lawyers.
Therefore, no country can give claims on waters in the East Sea that exceed geographicallimitations and go beyond contents of the 1982 UNCLOS, she added.
Illegal and unsuitable claims which are unconformable to the 1982 UNCLOS cannotbe used as the foundations to assert the existence of disputed and overlappedwaters, the spokeswoman said.
These above-said acts that hinder Vietnam’s oil and gas activities in its territorialwaters are violating international law and the 1982 UNCLOS, Hang said.
The spokeswoman also reaffirmed Vietnam’s stance on its sovereignty over HoangSa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes./.
VNA
