VN totally rejects China’s unilateral fishing ban as it violates sovereignty
VGP – Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang has said Viet Nam protests and totally rejects the China’s latest unilateral fishing ban as it violates Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago.
China has announced that its summer fishing moratorium started in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the waters north to 12 degrees north latitude of the South China Sea, according to China’s national news agency, Xinhua.
Hang reaffirmed Viet Nam has sufficient legal grounds and historical evidence to attest its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos as well as legitimate rights over its waters in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Measures to protect marine resources must be carried out in line with the regulations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and must not harm the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the relevant countries.
The Chinese ban goes against the spirit and words of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed between ASEAN and China and the Agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues inked between Viet Nam and China, Hang said./.
By Quang Minh
