UNESCO Vietnam Union opposes China’s illegal act

The statement said, as of May 2 China brazenly deployed its drilling rig and a large fleet of over 130 armed vessels, military ships and aircraft in Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

Ever since, the Chinese ships have aggressively fired high-pressure water cannons at and intentionally rammed into Vietnamese law enforcement and civil vessels, causing damage and injuring many people on board

On May 26, a Chinese ship sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel while it was carrying out its usual operations. 

The UNESCO body described China’s acts as a particularly serious violation of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNESCO) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) to which China is a signatory.

The union condemned China for infringing upon Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction, directly threatening peace, stability, maritime and aviation security and safety in the East Sea.

For this reason, it demanded China to immediately remove its oil rig and vessels from Vietnam’s waters and prevent similar occurrences, noting that countries need to behave in a civilised and responsible manner on the basis of respect for international law, territorial sovereignty and the legitimate interests of other states. 

Vietnam always sincerely wants to settle disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, equality and mutual respect for the sake of the two sides, it said, quoting Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s statement at the 24th ASEAN Summit in Myanmar last month. 

Vietnam has so far exercised the utmost restraint, shown goodwill and availed itself of all dialogue channels to communicate with Chinese authorities of different levels, to express protest and demand China immediately withdraw its rig and armed and military vessels from Vietnam’s waters. 

However, up to now, China has failed to respond to Vietnam’s legitimate demand. On the contrary, it has been slandering and blaming Vietnam while escalating the use of force and acts of violation.