China’s military exercises in Hoàng Sa Archipelago violate VN’s sovereignty

VNGOP – China’s military maneuver in the Hoàng Sa (Paracels) Archipelago violates Việt Nam’s sovereignty and is not in conformity with common perception of senior leaders of the two countries as well as the spirit of the recent meeting between the two PMs on the sidelines of the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore, not beneficial to the bilateral friendship, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lê Dũng.

November 24, 2007 7:00 AM GMT+7

The Spokesman made the statement on November 23 while answering VNA correspondent’s questions about Việt Nam’s response to China’s military exercises within the archipelago from November 16-23.
"Việt Nam has full historical evidence and legal foundations to confirm Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa Archipelagoes”, emphasized Mr. Lê Dũng.
He was quoted as saying that Việt Nam always wants to strengthen the friendly neighborliness with China and peacefully deal with all disputes between the two countries on the basis of international laws and practices, especially the International Convention on the Law on Sea 1982 and the Declaration on Conducts in the East Sea 2002 (DOC) in order to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea and the region.