VN reaffirms sovereignty over Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa archipelagos

The spokesman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lê Dũng said so in a reply to the December 28, 2006 question from the Vietnam News Agency concerning an article carried in the Chinese magazine Huan Qiu in connection with Vietnam’s Hoàng Sa Archipelagos.

According to a report from the magazine’s December 2006 issue, since November 1, 2005, China has set up its sovereign markers in the waters around and on some parts of Vietnam’s Hoàng Sa Archipelago.

“As in the previous statements released by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokespersons in 1992 and 1996, Vietnam will never recognize the legality of any legislation of any country on the so-called territorial waters, adjacent areas and baselines as well as their activities in question on Vietnam’s Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa Archipelagos. The Chinese sovereign markers on some parts of the Hoàng Sa Archipelago have violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, hence their invalidity,” said Mr. Dũng.

“Vietnam restates the policy of resolving any marine disputes among concerned parties through peaceful means in respect for each other’s independence and sovereignty and in line with the international law and practice, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 Declaration of Conducts (DOC) of concerned parties in the Eastern Sea, for friendship, cooperation and peace and stability in the Eastern Sea,” said the spokesman.

By Xuân Hồng

(Source: MOFA)