Vietnam's Ambassador to Indonesia refuted China's unreasonable arguments on the East Sea issue and outlined ways Beijing could maintain peace and stability in the region.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Hoang Anh Tuan. Photo: Vietnamembassy-Indonesia.org

On January 14, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Xu Bu published an article in the Jakarta Post titled Maintaining Peace and Stability in the East Sea, in which he presented many distorted arguments to affirm China's sovereignty over the East Sea, as well as falsely claiming that a series of steps taken by the country are aimed at contributing to peace and stability in the region.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Hoang Anh Tuan today wrote an article titled "New worrying developments in the East Sea" on the Jakarta Post to refute Ambassador Xu Bu's arguments.

In the article, Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan emphasized: "After completing the construction of artificial islands on coral reefs and rocks that China illegally occupied, China began test flights of civilian aircraft to Vietnam's Cross Reef on January 1, 2016. This action more clearly demonstrates Beijing's expansionist intentions in an area that is important to trade and maritime traffic in Southeast Asia and the world."

Mr. Hoang Anh Tuan also pointed out that from January 1 to 8, China conducted 46 flights in Vietnam's flight information region. The ambassador stressed that this violated Vietnam's sovereignty and international regulations, threatening the safety of international flights in the area. "This shows that China seems to be turning its back on international agreements," he wrote.

The article asserts that China’s actions are contrary to its statement that the construction of artificial islands in the East Sea does not affect freedom and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea. The article also points out that China’s construction and reclamation of artificial islands in Truong Sa goes against the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

After presenting evidence showing that Vietnam has indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan made three proposals for China to turn its promises to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea into reality.

According to him, first, China needs to quickly stop all construction of artificial islands in the East Sea, and at the same time needs to end its actions that change the status quo and militarize the East Sea.

Second, China must quickly stop building an airport at Vietnam's Cross Reef, because this threatens Vietnam's sovereignty; peace, stability in the region and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

Third, China needs to fully implement the DOC, have goodwill to reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) with ASEAN, and commit to resolving disputes on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan said that these are important initial steps to create a peaceful, stable and secure environment for the Southeast Asian region, and this will of course also bring long-term benefits to China.

According to VNE