Protesting China’s speedy construction of “Sansha City”

Following the illegal building and developing of the so called “Sansha City”, China’s People’s Daily Online and Xinhua recently reported that “Sansha City” held a meeting with the media to mark its first 100 days of establishment and the city’s authorities are speeding up the building of wharfs, airports and administrative offices.

These escalating acts seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos - administrative units under the management of Danang city and Khanh Hoa province in central Vietnam.

China has allocated 100 million Yuan from its central budget to build the supply ship “Sansha 1” and plans to provide an additional 160 million Yuan next year.

Sansha has defined eight infrastructure projects for airports, wharfs, transportation and offices at a total cost of more than 10 billion Yuan.

The city also plans to begin projects to build waste treatment systems, residential areas and roads with total investment capital of 600 million Yuan.

The so called “Sansha city” - administrative unit that covers both Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos was brazenly established by China in July 2012 despite protests from Vietnam and the international community.

China held a flag raising ceremony on October 1 to mark its National Day on Phu Lam Island in the Hoang Sa archipelago.

On October 3, the Chinese navy’s Nanhai Fleet held an exercise in the waters of the Hoang Sa archipelago and five days later, China set up a meteorological station in the so-called Sansha City.

Earlier on September 23, the Chinese press reported that China will deploy unmanned aircraft to intensify the surveillance of the waters that include the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

At the Foreign Ministry’s regular press briefing in Hanoi on October 11, spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi replied to media questions about Vietnam’s response to China’s recent acts saying that the above mentioned acts by the Chinese side seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, as well as international laws and the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China that was signed in October 2011.

They also run counter to the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed between ASEAN and China in 2002, thus further complicating the East Sea situation. Therefore, these acts are totally null and void.

Vietnam asks China to respect its sovereignty and refrain from wrongful actions in order to make practical contributions to developing the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, in addition to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, Nghi said.