(VOVworld) - The Vietnamese Association in Angola held a meeting in Luanda last Sunday to protest China’s provocative actions in the East Sea and raised money for Vietnam’s Marine Police. 

OVs in Angola oppose China’s illegal act in the East Sea

In a speech, Pham Van Duc, Acting President of the Association, strongly condemned China’s illegal action, calling it a serious violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. He said the action runs counter to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC). It also violates agreements reached by the two countries’ leaders and negatively impacts the time-honoured friendship between the two peoples. Duc said the Vietnamese community in Angola strongly opposed and asked China to immediately halt its illegal activities, withdraw the Haiyang 981 oil rig and escort ships from Vietnam’s waters, and not allow such actions to reoccur in Vietnam ’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the future.

The same day, Vietnamese people living in the Republic of Cyprus flooded the streets in the capital city of Nicosia to protest China’s violation of Vietnamese sovereignty. The peaceful march was joined by more than 1,000 people, most of them Vietnamese and Filipinos working in Cyprus.