(VOVworld) – The Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh says Vietnam has sovereign right and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone in the East Sea. At a workshop hosted by the working group of alternative strategies (WGAS) in New Delhi on Thursday, Mr. Thanh asked other countries to respect Vietnam’s right in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Regarding territorial disputes in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, the diplomat said Vietnam has the full legal basis and historical evidence to attest to its sovereignty over the archipelagos. 
He also highlighted Vietnam’s consistent stance of solving disputes in the East Sea by peaceful measures, and in line with international law, including the UNCLOS 1982, adding that parties involved should exercise self-restraint, not use force or threaten to use force, and avoid unilateral action and militarisation when addressing disputes. The Vietnamese diplomat said parties should strictly abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), in the interests of avoiding complicating the situation further. He also urged China and ASEAN to soon finalise a Code of Conduct (COC) in the waters, while calling for countries’ greater efforts to maintain peace, stability and the law of the sea and ocean.