VN opposes China’s illegal activities on East Sea

VGP – Each construction and expansion project by foreigners on reef islands in Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) that is not explicitly permitted by the Vietnamese Government is illegal and invalid.

April 17, 2015 9:38 AM GMT+7

Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh made that statement in reply to reporters’ queries about Viet Nam’s response to the April 9 speech by Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Hua Chunying about the expansion of underground reefs in Truong Sa.

Viet Nam has sufficient legal and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, he said, adding that Viet Nam has conducted a number of interventions, including high-level exchanges with China on this issue.
Viet Nam firmly opposes the above actions and has asked parties concerned to fully abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and make contributions to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, he added.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)’ regular press conference, Mr. Binh revealed that Viet Nam welcomed the US’s removal of Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The removal will be an important step as the two countries are normalizing their bilateral relations, he asserted.

The spokesman clarified the information about two staffs of Viet Nam Airlines who were seized at the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s airport because of illegally transporting gold.

The MFA has cooperated with other domestic functional agencies and directed the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK to actively work with the RoK side to identify the information and deal with the case.

Answering the question about Indonesian authorities have arrested seven unlicensed Vietnamese fishing boats with 84 fishermen on board, Mr. Binh confirmed that the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia is verifying the information. If the information is true, the Embassy will launch protective measures to ensure their lives and assets in accordance with international laws and regulations.

In response to a question about a Vietnamese brought a radioactive clock from Boryspil Airport in Ukraine to Russia’s capital Moscow, the spokesman announced that according to the information from the Vietnamese Embassy in Ukraine, a Vietnamese citizen was detained on April 12 in Ukraine for his suspected radioactivity-contaminated luggage.

The Embassy is coordinating with Ukrainian functional agencies to clarify and deal with the case.

By Thuy Dung