Viet Nam has asked parties to refrain from actions that could complicate the situation in the East Sea and instead contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said yesterday.
Viet Nam has asked parties to refrain from actions that could complicate the situation in the East Sea and instead contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said yesterday.
Nghi made the statement in response to reporters' queries about Viet Nam's reaction to information saying that China had recently sent a 1,000 tonne fishing boat to the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos to assist with aquaculture and fishing and about 500 fishing vessels regularly operated in the area; and other information about China opposing India's co-operation with Viet Nam in exploring oil and gas at Lot 127 and Lot 128 in Viet Nam's exclusive economic zone.
"Viet Nam affirms its incontrovertible sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa archipelagos. All activities of parties in the area without Viet Nam's acceptance are violations of its sovereignty."
He said Viet Nam affirmed that co-operation projects between Viet Nam and foreign partners in oil and gas, including projects at Lot 127 and Lot 128, located in Viet Nam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, completely belonged within the rights of sovereignty and jurisdiction, in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and international practice and reality, and multilateral and bilateral agreements signed by Viet Nam, he said.
"Objections against co-operation between Viet Nam and foreign partners in Viet Nam's continental shelf and 200-nautical mile economic exclusive zone are legally groundless and invalid," Nghi said.
(Source: VNS)
