"Vietnam exercises restraint but still reserves the right to legitimate defense"
Foreign press continues to report strongly on the reaction of Vietnamese public opinion to China's illegal placement of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.
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| A Chinese Coast Guard ship deliberately rammed the left side of a Vietnamese Coast Guard ship. (Source: Coast Guard/VNA) |
On June 11, the AP news network published an interview with the international press on June 10 by Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Le Hoai Trung, in which he clearly stated the request for China to withdraw the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig and more than 100 ships from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, in order to create a favorable environment for negotiations on disagreements related to the East Sea.
AP quoted Ambassador Le Hoai Trung as saying that China's refusal to dialogue with Vietnam was a "provocative" act, causing "serious concerns."
Ambassador Le Hoai Trung affirmed: "Vietnam is still exercising restraint, but Vietnam, like other countries in the world, still reserves its right to legitimate self-defense."
On June 9, the RSIS Commentaries page of the S. Rajaratnam School of Defense and Strategic Studies (RSIS), part of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, also published the original article "The Paracels: Forty years on" by Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of International Law, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
According to RSIS Commentaries, China's action of illegally placing the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf not only caused a conflict over sovereignty but more seriously, it caused a confrontation with international maritime law.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh's article affirms that China has clearly violated the provisions of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).
At the end of the article, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh assessed that China's violation of international law is not the behavior of a responsible power in the international arena./.
According to Vietnam +
