Despite the cold weather, a large number of Vietnamese people in Frankfurt, Germany, carried national flags and banners protesting China's recent aggressive moves in the East Sea and marched through the city center on February 28.
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| This is the fourth protest by the Vietnamese community here since China illegally placed the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in 2014 and now continues to take new actions to escalate tensions in the East Sea. |
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| They held up banners in many languages and shouted slogans such as "Hoang Sa - Truong Sa belong to Vietnam", "China must respect international law", "Vietnam loves peace"... China is believed to be plotting to militarize this sea area by deploying missiles, fighter jets and radars to the rocky islands of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos under Vietnam's sovereignty. |
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| The protesters were led and escorted carefully by police into the downtown area. |
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| A German Buddhist who participated in the march expressed support for the protest's goal of taking to the streets for peace and justice, and called on the Beijing authorities to respect international laws and conventions and maintain peace in the East Sea. |
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| A protest letter in Vietnamese, German and English was read before the Chinese Consulate General. The protest letter stated: "Disputes in the East Sea, where there are the largest number of ships and cargo transport in the world, are not just a problem between Vietnam and China but a common problem of the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world, which need to be resolved through multilateral dialogue, by law and international conventions. The East Sea is calling! The East Sea is in dire need of voices of truth and reason!" |
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| Braving cold winds in temperatures of around 2 degrees Celsius, the protesters marched through the streets towards Romerberg Square, where the city's town hall is located, lining the street in front of the Chinese Consulate General. |
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| Many leaflets were also distributed to people standing on both sides of the street watching the protest so that they could better understand China's current wrongful actions, which disregard international law and standards. Previously, China's new moves in the East Sea have met with strong reactions from many countries such as the US, Australia, Japan... Vietnam affirms its indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, and resolutely opposes actions that seriously violate Vietnam's sovereignty. |
According to VNE
