Vietnam believes that China’s inclusion of a part of the Hoang Sa (Paracels) in the military exercise area from July 29 to August 2 is a serious violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago and goes against the spirit of the Joint Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).
The above statement was made by Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang when asked by the press about the incident at a regular press conference in Hanoi on August 3.
The spokeswoman of Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also added that Beijing’s exercise covering such an area of the Paracels is complicating the situation and is not conducive to the current negotiation process between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on the Code of Conduct between the Parties in the South China Sea (COC); as well as maintaining an environment of peace, stability and cooperation in the South China Sea region.
On July 28, China announced that it would conduct military training in the South China Sea from July 29 to August 2 in the area from Hainan Island to part of the South China including the Paracels and Macclesfield.
The Joint Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) was signed between ASEAN and China in 2002. One of the points signed was to maintain the status quo at that time.
However, China then proceeded to build and turn some of the rocks that Beijing captured into artificial islands, militarizing them into outpost islands. China has become increasingly assertive and belligerent in the South China Sea. In 2016, Beijing announced that it would not accept the outcome of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the nine-dash line that China unilaterally outlined to claim almost the entire South China Sea.
For the Paracels, China completed its full occupation from the Republic of Vietnam in January 1974.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
