"Chinese leaders are deceiving their people"

(Baonghean) -To clearly assess the support of the international community for Vietnam in the struggle to preserve sovereignty and territorial integrity in the East Sea, Nghe An Newspaper interviewed Major General, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Van Cuong, former Director of the Institute of Strategic Sciences, Ministry of Public Security.

Reporter:Major General, how do you evaluate the reaction of international public opinion over the past month to China's placement of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in the waters of Vietnam's continental shelf and exclusive economic zone?

Major General Le Van Cuong:In the recent past, since May 1, 2014, Chinese leaders have simultaneously carried out three actions: First, they towed the Haiyang 981 drilling rig into Vietnam's sovereign waters. This action was not permitted by the Vietnamese government, so China and its leaders violated the United Nations Charter, the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC). Chinese leaders themselves also violated three joint statements between China and Vietnam signed by the leaders of the two countries from 2011 to 2013. This action violates a series of international laws and commitments. The second action is even worse: they threatened to use force and directly used force. China used both military and civilian ships to ram Vietnamese coast guard ships, fisheries surveillance ships, and fishing boats many times, damaging dozens of Vietnamese ships and injuring many people. Not only did they shoot water guns and water cannons to damage the ship, but they also rammed and sank the Vietnamese fishing boat in a cruel and inhumane manner. It is clear that China has used the threat of force and used force. This is an action strictly prohibited by the international community. Article 2 of the United Nations Charter states that: All international disputes and relations, all countries must go through the path of peaceful dialogue on the basis of international law, prohibiting the use of force and the threat of force. This action has caused indignation not only to 90 million Vietnamese people and 5 million Vietnamese people abroad, 8 billion people on the planet. The third action is that they lied, while putting the drilling rig into operation, they also used force to threaten and overwhelm, yet in Beijing and international forums they said that their drilling rig was operating in China's exclusive economic zone, only Vietnamese ships were harassing and nothing else happened. Meanwhile, the whole world witnessed Chinese ships ramming Vietnamese ships and sinking the ships.

Chinese fishing boat crashes into Vietnamese fishing boat. Photo: VOV

Since 2011, China has been aggressive towards Vietnam every year, not just this year. But this time the international community has reacted promptly and quickly. The scale is large globally, the nature is fierce. There are three types of reacting subjects. First, scholars, citizens, and honest people around the world all oppose it. Professor Carthayer said: China's illegal and aggressive actions are unprecedented. China has placed itself above international law. When they drill for oil, they will cover it up and bring out small drilling rigs, then gradually occupy the entire East Sea. On the national level, the great powers all oppose China. In the United States, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Secretary of State, and even President Obama have all officially opposed it. The French Prime Minister has also continuously voiced his opposition at many forums. EU countries have all spoken out against it. Even ASEAN and Singapore oppose China. At the third level, major international and regional forums such as the Foreign Ministers' Forum issued a statement on the East Sea for the first time, the Defense Ministers' Forum also issued a statement on the East Sea issue, and for the first time the G7 Conference (7 leading industrial powers) issued a statement of concern about the situation in the East Sea, this is the first time since its establishment that the G7 has made such a statement.

Reporter:Can the Major General further assess the impact of international public opinion on China? And Vietnam's invitation of foreign journalists to the field to witness the truth, including Chinese press?

Major General Le Van Cuong:The international community's reaction certainly has an impact on China. For the past 12 years, Chinese leaders have used every forum to promote China's peaceful development. The propaganda apparatus of nearly 4,000 newspapers, 400-500 radio and television stations, has been indoctrinating that China develops peacefully, develops rapidly but does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, does not violate other countries' sovereignty. But with actions like this, no one believes in China anymore. In this regard, it is necessary to recall that Mr. Khrushchev - when he was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union - once said, "Only fools believe in China." I believe that honest people do not believe in China. This is a great failure for China, forcing them to adjust their behavior whether they like it or not. China cannot live alone. 1.3 billion Chinese people need the rest of the world. Without 8 billion people, China cannot survive.

This time, we are ready to invite reporters to board the coast guard, fisheries surveillance, and fishing boats to witness the action, record all the actions of threatening to use force and directly threatening to use force to say that in Beijing, the Chinese leadership has been deceiving the 1.3 billion Chinese people and deceiving the 8 billion people on this planet. It is foreign journalists who will help the international community understand China's actions. Inviting international reporters to the field like this is very effective, very good.

Reporter:Major General, in your opinion, what should Vietnam continue to do to help the world better understand the nature of the problem and thereby take more effective actions to support law enforcement and protect peace and stability in the East Sea?

Major General Le Van Cuong:In the cause of protecting independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity in general, protecting the sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction of the country in the East Sea in particular, we mobilize many forces, the most important of which is the people's hearts. Just recently, our government took clear, coherent, and correct actions, so 90 million people in the country expressed their consensus with the Party and the State, and 5 million overseas Vietnamese highly agreed with the country. That is an invincible strength. Just recently, the media front: press, internet... is a particularly important force.

Never before, since the 1979 war of aggression, has our state created conditions for the press to report promptly, objectively, and accurately on the real developments in the East Sea. This is what we do in accordance with Article 70 of the Constitution: Citizens have the right to information. The press is the first and main force providing complete information, the press plays an extremely important role. In addition to our preparation of the military front, unless they force us to defend ourselves, our press front has done very well. It is the press that contributes to helping the international public opinion community understand and oppose China's illegal actions, and support Vietnam. Without the press, we cannot do this.

I think that more than ever, the Party and the State need to positively evaluate the press's activities in recent times. Our press has been very timely, effective and positive. We have never done so well. I think the 1.3 billion Chinese people are good, but they themselves have been deceived by the Chinese Central Government. Therefore, we must propagate in Chinese so that the 1.3 billion Chinese people in the country and the 200 million Chinese people abroad understand the real problem and understand us, support us. We need to cooperate with the international press and media. Because no country can develop if it is isolated. The press force needs to be created conditions to expand foreign relations. We invite press agencies to come on board, exchange, hold seminars, and bring them back... The world considers the press as the fourth power, if we can take advantage of the press, there will be many advantages in this struggle.

Reporter:Dear Major General, on the occasion of the upcoming Revolutionary Press Day, June 21, what are your expectations for the press to continue this struggle more effectively, especially for a party newspaper like Nghe An newspaper?

Major General Le Van Cuong:The Vietnamese press force in the recent past, in the face of China's illegal activities in the country's sovereign waters, has performed very well. As Ho Chi Minh said, the press is a front, and we journalists are truly steadfast and brave soldiers on this front. Going on fishing control ships, coast guard ships, fishing boats, to aggressive Chinese waters means being ready to sacrifice. As a citizen, a party member, a son of Nghe An, I expect the Vietnamese press force in general and Nghe An press in particular to be ready to work in the most difficult places, make the most arduous sacrifices, even sacrifice their lives, but promptly provide the most accurate and objective information, to serve the struggle to protect our independence and territorial sovereignty.

I think that Nghe An Newspaper has done a lot of work recently, being a bright spot among 63 units nationwide. I have full confidence that you can do this.

Reporter:Thank you Major General Le Van Cuong!

PV(perform)