(VOVworld) - China’s escort ships protecting drilling rig HD-981 have continued to prevent Vietnamese law enforcement forces to approach the drilling rig. The move goes against international law and seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Chinese ships have hit, rammed, and fired water cannons onto Vietnamese ships and deployed missile ships and helicopters to intimidate Vietnamese ships in Vietnamese waters.

The Vietnamese and world community has continued to voice their protest at China’s violation of Vietnamese sovereignty. Ho Chi Minh city’s External Relations Department summoned a representative of the Chinese Consulate to express opposition to China’s unilateral placement of drilling rig HD-981 and a large number of escort vessels in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Leaders of Ho Chi Minh city’s External Relations Department said that China’s action is illegal, running counter to international law and norms and seriously violating Vietnam’s sovereignty. Vietnam has always shown its goodwill and persistence in resolving disputes through negotiation, dialogue and other peaceful measures in conformity with the common awareness of both countries’ leaders, the Agreement on Basic Principles Guiding the Settlement of Sea-related Issues, and international law including the 1982 UNCLOS. 

10 Vietnamese associations in France have issued a joint statement to protest China’s illegal actions in Vietnamese waters. The statement said China’s unilateral action violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, threatened regional security, and breached the principles of handling disputes in the East Sea peacefully. The associations called on the international community, especially countries with sovereignty claims in the East Sea to denounce China’s provocative actions and incursion. Professor Nguyen Duc Khuong, President of the Association of Vietnamese Experts in France said: “We all have turned our hearts to Vietnam and followed information and official statements from the Vietnamese government in response to China’s incursion. We have advocated many activities, including signing a joint statement of Vietnamese associations in France to protest all actions which go against the principles of friendly relationship, basic conduct and international law. We have encouraged our partners in France and other countries to reflect their opinions on the media with the aim of rallying international support for Vietnam’s legal struggle to demand China end its illegal actions in the East Sea.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry, for the first time, has voiced his deep concern over China’s illegal deployment of an oil rig and escort ships to Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. Speaking to the press prior to the 3^rd US-Singapore Strategic Dialogue in Washington, he underscored that China’s provocative actions in Hoang Sa are of great concern for the US and all countries engaged in maritime navigation and transportation in the East Sea and the East China Sea. He said the US urged the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea and that disputes be resolved peacefully with international maritime law, arbitrators or and any other measures except confrontation and provocative actions. 

Earlier, senior leaders of both US Congress and Government expressed their concern about China’s provocation in the East Sea. On May 10^th, Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Laehy, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez, Senator John McCain and other senators issued a statement, describing China’s move as worrisome. They urged the US Senate to adopt a resolution to reaffirm US government support for free navigation in the Asia-Pacific region and diplomatic solutions to current territorial and sea-related disputes.

The British government said it supported the EU’s statement on tensions in the East Sea and mentioned it to the Chinese government. In a statement posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire said that China’s illegal placement of drilling rig HD-981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf escalated tensions in the East Sea.

British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire

The UK supports the EU’s statement on May 8^th and mentioned this to the Chinese government at the ministerial level and called on all sides to exercise restraint and seek ways to ease tensions.

Meanwhile, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong applauded the joint statement of ASEAN foreign ministers on the serious situation in the East Sea. Lee said although China considers conflicts in the East Sea bilateral matters between China and involved countries, the consistent stance of Singapore and other ASEAN countries is that regional security and stability depend on what happens in this maritime area so ASEAN needs a say on the current situation in the East Sea.

In India, scholar Vinod Anand, a senior specialist at the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi, said China’s move violated not only Vietnam’s sovereignty but also the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Anand described China’s drilling rig and flotilla of vessels and escort planes in Vietnam’s seas as a war-like act to push China’s territorial claims in the East Sea. He noted that ASEAN countries should unite and together with the world community demand China join the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). He stressed that disputes must be resolved with peaceful measures and China’s provocation only incites hostility and tension, impacting regional peace and stability.

Many German newspapers have run articles to criticize China’s provocation. Doctor Gerhard Will, an expert on South East Asia of Germany’s Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), also criticized China’s provocative act. Will said China’s act violated regulations of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a serious back step in efforts to minimize conflicts in the East Sea and the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea between ASEAN and China. He said that China’s move was not aimed at oil exploration or exploitation but to realize its groundless territorial claims in this maritime area of Vietnam and to demonstrate its power through a number of activities such as occupying islands and increasing military capability. Doctor Will also said that the escalation of tension was not expected by Southeast Asian nations and would not serve China’s long-term interests.