China asked to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty in East Sea
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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang
The affirmation was made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang at the ministry’s press briefing on March 25 in reply to a reporter's question regarding Vietnam's reaction to the information about the rally by hundreds of Chinese ships in the Bai Ba Dau (Whitsun Reef) on Vietnam’s Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelago.
“Vietnam has sufficient legal and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in accordance with international law. As a littoral nation and a member of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the country is entitled to enjoy sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction over its territorial waters, established by the convention,” the official stated.
Chinese ships’ activities within the territorial waters of Sinh Ton Dong island in in Vietnam’s Spratly archipelago violated Vietnam’s sovereignty and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the operation of foreign ships in coastal countries’ territorial waters and ran counter to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC). This complicated the situation and undermined the negotiation of the Code of Conduct (COC) between ASEAN and China, Hang added.
Vietnam requested that China stop this violation, respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, abide by UNCLOS, seriously comply with DOC, practice restraint, create a favorable environment for COC negotiation as a contribution to maintaining peace, security, stability, and legal order at sea in the region, the spokesperson said.
Also at the briefing, responding to reporters’ questions on Vietnam’s reaction to the establishment of an interim government in Libya, Hang said the nation welcomes the establishment of a provisional government to lead the country to official election in December 2021 and called on involved parties to respect the cease fire agreement signed last October.
Vietnam backs and values the supporting role of the UN, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Libya, regional organisations and the international community in stabilizing the situation and seeking a long-term peaceful solution to the Libya issue, Hang stated.
