Peace and stability in the South China Sea are under threat.

On May 11th, one of the "hot" issues at the plenary session of the 24th ASEAN Summit, taking place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, was "Peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea – a common concern of ASEAN, the region, and the world – is being seriously threatened."

Speaking at the session, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung particularly emphasized the issue of regional peace and security, specifically the recent complex and serious developments in the South China Sea.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the conference.

According to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, since May 1, 2014, China has brazenly deployed a deep-sea drilling rig along with more than 80 armed vessels, military ships, and escort aircraft into Vietnamese waters, positioning the rig more than 80 nautical miles deep within Vietnam's continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Chinese armed vessels escorting the rig aggressively used high-intensity water cannons and rammed into Vietnamese patrol and civilian vessels, causing significant damage and injuries. This marks the first time China has brazenly deployed a drilling rig deep within the continental shelf and EEZ of an ASEAN country, a particularly serious violation of international law, UNCLOS, and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), to which China is a signatory. This extremely dangerous action has been and continues to directly threaten peace, stability, security, and maritime safety in the South China Sea.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated that Vietnam has exercised utmost restraint, expressed all goodwill, and used all channels of dialogue and communication with various levels of China to protest and demand that China immediately withdraw the oil rig and armed vessels from Vietnam's waters. However, to date, China has not only failed to meet Vietnam's legitimate demands but has also slandered and blamed Vietnam, and continued to escalate its increasingly dangerous and serious violations.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam attaches great importance to and always does its utmost to preserve and strengthen the good friendship with China. Vietnam sincerely wishes to work with China to resolve disputes peacefully on the basis of international law, equality, and mutual respect for the benefit of the people of both countries, and for the peace and stability of the region and the world. However, Vietnam strongly opposes acts of infringement and resolutely defends its national sovereignty and legitimate interests in accordance with international law.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated: “We sincerely thank and urgently call upon ASEAN countries, countries around the world, international individuals and organizations to continue to speak out against the aforementioned serious violations and support Vietnam’s legitimate and just demands.”

Given this particularly serious situation, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung proposed that ASEAN strengthen solidarity, strongly reaffirm the principles stated in the Six-Point Declaration on the South China Sea, and demand that China abide by international law, UNCLOS, especially respect the continental shelf and 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones of coastal states, fully and seriously implement the DOC, and engage in substantive negotiations with ASEAN on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also emphasized that Vietnam proposed that ASEAN include the aforementioned issues regarding the South China Sea in the Statement of the Summit and the Statement of the Chairman of the ASEAN Summit. Vietnam highly appreciates the fact that the ASEAN Foreign Ministers, on May 10, 2014, unanimously adopted a separate Statement on the current serious situation in the South China Sea, clearly demonstrating ASEAN's solidarity, central role, proactive spirit, and high responsibility towards peace, stability, and security in the region.

According to VNA/News