Vietnam condemns China, Taiwan’s illegal acts in the South China Sea: Official

VIETNAM on December 3 condemned China and Taiwan’s recent illegal excursion, including operating tourist cruises and organising live fire drills, into its rightful waters and sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told a press briefing in Hanoi that Chinese Taipei’s holding of military live ammunition exercises around the Ba Binh ( Taiping) island on November 24 as part of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago constituted a “grave violation of Vietnamese territory, sovereign rights”.

She added that the act jeopardised peace, security, stability, safety of navigation, and further complicates matters in the South China Sea (known in Vietnam as the East Sea).

“Vietnam strongly opposes such action and demands that Taiwan ceases the undertaking of the illegal exercise, and to refrain from similar acts in the future,” Hang said.

Cruise routes to Paracels

She also criticised the latest moves by China, including Ha i n a n i s l a n d’s r e c e n t announcement to in December resume cruise routes to the so-called Xisha island, the Chinese name for Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, the control of which was violently seized by China during the 70s, along with the Chinese navy’s receiving of the hospital ship Nanyi-13 on Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa archipelago.

“As we have stated on many occasions, all activities conducted in the two archipelagos Truong Sa and Hoang Sa without Vietnam’s permission are encroaching on Vietnam’s sovereignty and infringing on international law, and are completely null and void,” Hang said.

‘Cooperative environment’

Vietnam asks that China respect its sovereignty over the two island chains, put an end to actions that threaten to escalate tensions in the region, go against the Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea (DoC) and undermine efforts to maintain a peaceful, stable and cooperative environment in the South China Sea.

These actions are not facilitating the ongoing talks on the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea and not conducive to Sino-Vietnamese relations, Hang added.

The Viet na mese diplomat a lso asser ted t hat Viet na m has sufficient lega l basis and historica l ev idence to affirm its sovereignt y over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos pursuant wit h internationa l law.