(VOVworld) - In an article recently published on Indonesia’s Jakarta Post, the Vietnamese ambassador to Indonesia, Nguyen Xuan Thuy has slammed a Chinese diplomat’s statement.

The full text of the ambassador’s article published on Jakarta Post

In the piece “Vietnam’s dangerous acts”, Liu Hongyang, chargé d’affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, said that the Xisha (Paracel) Islands “are an inherent territory of China”. Ambassador Thuy said Vietnam has adequate historical evidence and legal grounds to assert its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. Mr. Thuy added Mr. Liu was intentionally wrong in citing the letter dated September 14, 1958, by then prime minister Pham Van Dong, as public recognition of China’s sovereignty over, inter alia, the Paracel Islands. Moreover, China’s statements that there is no dispute over the Paracel Islands are contrary to what has been acknowledged by China’s leaders.

Earlier, Singapore’s “The Straits Times” newspaper ran an article by Dr. Nguyen Hung Son, Deputy Director of the East Sea Institute under the Vietnam Diplomatic Academy. He said if China loses ASEAN’s trust and friendship, it would be the first country in history to seek great power status with no true friends among its neighbors.