• China’s sovereign claims in East Sea groundless

New law governs sovereignty over sea, islands

“Vietnam has full legal and historical evidence to assert its indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. China’s decision to establish the so-called Sansha city infringed Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty over the two archipelagoes and seriously violated basic principles of international law and the United Nations Charter,” the VBF says in its recent statement.

The VBF also strongly condemns and opposes the invitation for bids for nine lots in the East Sea by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

These lots are situated within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, around 13 nautical miles from Vietnam’s Phu Quy island at the closest point and around 60 nautical miles from Vietnam’s shore.

China’s above-mentioned act seriously infringes Vietnam’s sovereign rights and jurisdictional rights over the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf as stated in Articles 55, 56, 57, 76 and 77 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This act also goes contrary to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) reached among the Governments of the ASEAN nations and China, says the statement.

The Vietnam Bar Federation demands that China immediately abolish its Sansha city decision and the wrongful invitation for bids, adding that it completely supports the statements released by the Foreign Ministry spokesperson on June 21 and 26 on the aforementioned issues.

”China must respect and strictly implement its commitments as specified in the DOC,” says the VBF. It also calls on China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to behave in a responsible manner and in line with the UN Charter and international law, especially the UNCLOS.