Rejecting the Chinese Ambassador's false arguments about the East Sea

On July 7, Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Nguyen Tat Thanh wrote an article titled "Who is causing instability in the East Sea - A few words to Ambassador Ninh Phu Khoi" published in Matichon newspaper (Thailand) to refute the incorrect arguments of the Chinese Ambassador to Thailand on the East Sea issue.

Previously, on June 23, in the same newspaper, the Chinese Ambassador presented his views on the East Sea issue, which included many unfounded arguments.

Chinese ships increased speed to block and collide with Vietnamese law enforcement vessels. (Source: VNA)

In his article, Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh said that the information that Ambassador Ninh Phu Khoi mentioned in the article that "Vietnam harassed China's activities" was actually copied from a document dated June 8, 2014 published on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Ambassador Thanh, both in this document and in various press conferences, the representative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has never provided convincing and objective evidence to prove his argument. In the current era of information explosion, it is not difficult for Thai readers to verify from public and objective sources of information to see the truth or falsity in the information that Ambassador Ninh has presented.

In fact, the illegal operation of the Chinese drilling rig as well as the aggressive and inhumane actions of the Chinese rig escort vessels in Vietnam's waters have been fully reported by many media agencies both inside and outside the region, from developed and developing countries. Foreign reporters, international commentators, scholars and politicians all share the same opinion that China's unilateral and provocative actions, which are inconsistent with international law and contrary to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), are the main cause of the current tense situation.

Second, Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh emphasized that he could not agree with Ambassador Ninh's view that the Chinese Government had exercised continuous, legal and stable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago since the middle and late 10th century because this contradicted history and was a legal mistake. Vietnam has sufficient historical and legal evidence to prove its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago. Vietnam was the first country to have occupied and exercised sovereignty continuously and peacefully over the Hoang Sa archipelago, at least since the 17th century, when this territory was still uninhabited. The Nguyen Lords of Vietnam established militia teams, called the Hoang Sa team, to manage and exploit the Hoang Sa archipelago. This Hoang Sa team had the task of going to the Hoang Sa archipelago every year to exploit products, measure, plant trees, erect steles, build pagodas, rescue ships... All these activities were recorded in official documents.

"I said that there was a contradiction with history in Ambassador Ninh's statement because as far as I know, in 1898, when the owners of the Bellona and Himeji Maru ships demanded compensation from the Chinese authorities for the robbery of the property of the two ships by Chinese fishermen when they sank in the Paracel Islands, the Viceroy of Guangdong declared the Paracel Islands to be an terra nullius, not belonging to China, not administratively related to any district of Hainan and no agency responsible for controlling this area. This is actually understandable because for a long period of history, the Ming and Qing dynasties applied the "Sea Ban" policy, expressing a concern for dangers from the sea rather than a desire to go beyond the mainland territory to master the sea.

Because of the Chinese people's thinking about the sea and the Paracel Islands, the leading French cartographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville showed that China's territory during the Qianlong period (1736-1795) was limited to Hainan Island (not including islands in the East Sea such as the Paracel Islands) in a map published in Germany in the 18th century. This map was given to Chinese President Xi Jinping by German Chancellor Angela Merkel last March when Xi Jinping visited Germany.

Meanwhile, Chinese documents, such as "Overseas Chronicles" (Haiwai jishi) in 1696 or "Sea Records" (Hailu) in 1820 and international documents such as "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal" (1837) and "Journal of the Geographical Society of London" (1849) have recognized and shown that the Hoang Sa archipelago is Vietnam's territory," the Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand emphasized.

Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh affirmed that legally, there is no relevant official international document stating that China regained the Paracel Islands from Japan in 1946 as Ambassador Ninh wrote. On the contrary, at the San Francisco Conference in 1951, the proposal to ask Japan to recognize the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China over the Paracel Islands was rejected with 46 votes against out of 51 participating countries.

Also at this conference, the Head of the Vietnamese delegation, Prime Minister Tran Van Huu, reaffirmed Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracel Islands without encountering any objections. Subsequently, the 1954 Geneva Conference on the restoration of peace in Indochina affirmed that the participating parties respected the independence and territorial integrity of Vietnam, which meant including the Paracel Islands which were being administered by the forces of France and the Republic of Vietnam.

Because sovereignty over the Paracel Islands belongs to Vietnam and China, as a participating country in the 1954 Geneva Conference, knows this very well, the action that Ambassador Ninh called "expelling" the South Vietnamese army in the Paracel Islands was essentially an act of invasion by force and was strongly condemned by the Republic of Vietnam government as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam. Such an action cannot be the basis for China to claim sovereignty as stated in the Memorandum dated May 12, 1988 of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and published in the People's Daily on the same day.

Third, the Vietnamese Ambassador rejected the Chinese Ambassador's comment when Mr. Ninh Phu Khoi said that "the operation of the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig this time is a continuation of the exploration process over the past 10 years, completely within the scope of China's sovereignty and management rights and Vietnam has no right to speak, no right to intervene or prevent it."

According to Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh, illegal activities, such as exploration and survey, by China in Vietnam's waters in the East Sea over the past 10 years have always met with opposition from Vietnam in many forms and at different levels. Even in the face of China's ill-will and serious violation of Vietnam's legitimate rights in the East Sea, on August 5, 2010, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam publicly voiced his opposition.

"Vietnam's resolute opposition to the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig's activities this time is to protect its garden and the trees there that are being claimed by a neighbor without reason," Ambassador Thanh said.

Indeed, the area where China illegally placed the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig is located 60-80 nautical miles deep within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. China’s actions, despite Vietnam’s protests, have violated Vietnam’s sovereignty and jurisdiction as stipulated in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, of which both Vietnam and China are members.

Ambassador Ninh said that the area of ​​the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig belongs to the waters of “Xisha” (Vietnam’s Hoang Sa) because it is 17 nautical miles from the baseline of this archipelago while it is 120-140 nautical miles from Vietnam’s baseline. China’s drawing of baselines around the “Xisha” archipelago is worthless and inconsistent with the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"What I want to add here is that China itself has "broken its word" when it wants to erase the statement of leader Deng Xiaoping in September 1975 that Vietnam and China would negotiate to resolve the issue of sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago as recorded in the Memorandum dated May 12, 1988 of the Chinese Foreign Ministry," Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh emphasized.

To support the illegal operation of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig, China mobilized a large force of ships and aircraft of all kinds, at times up to nearly 140, including modern military ships, fully equipped with weapons to obstruct the operations of civilian ships of the Vietnam Coast Guard and Fisheries Surveillance that were enforcing the law in Vietnam's waters. Chinese ships collided and sprayed water cannons at Vietnamese ships within a radius of more than 10 nautical miles from the drilling rig, injuring dozens of fisheries surveillance officers and fishermen, and damaging many Vietnamese law enforcement ships. Even more inhumane was the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by Chinese ships that were fishing in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, and Chinese ships prevented Vietnamese ships from rescuing 10 crew members of the sunken ship.

China’s actions have seriously violated international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, contrary to the spirit and text of the DOC as well as high-level agreements between the two countries. China’s actions are no longer a bilateral issue between Vietnam and China but have been threatening security, safety, freedom of navigation and causing instability in the region. Therefore, not only Vietnam has protested, but many countries around the world have expressed concern and demanded that China immediately end its provocative actions.

Finally, in his article, Ambassador Ninh said that “China is a responsible big country, we “do not cause trouble” and do not want to see troubles in the area around us.” However, the Vietnamese Ambassador said that China’s actions in the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig incident have shown a huge gap between China’s words and actions.

The Vietnamese Ambassador also welcomed Ambassador Ninh's statement that “If anything can ease the situation, we are determined to promote it.”

Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh emphasized: "I think the most practical thing now is for China to immediately withdraw the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig and its escort vessels from Vietnam's waters and work with Vietnam to resolve related legal issues. Regarding this last point, I personally think that Ambassador Ninh and I should take advantage of our understanding of the current dispute surrounding the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig's operations in the East Sea to make appropriate proposals to domestic authorities, including recommending that the governments of the two countries present historical evidence and legal arguments of the two sides before an international tribunal for adjudication, not just stopping at presenting their views in the media. China's agreement to use peaceful measures to resolve this dispute and, more importantly, to comply with the ruling of the international tribunal is the practical thing to help small countries like Vietnam and Thailand have confidence that China is truly fulfilling the "responsibilities" of a big country"./.

According to VNA