The statement said that since May 1, China has blatantly stationed the oil rig and many escort vehicles, including military ships and aircraft, into Vietnamese waters, positioning the rig within Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.
Responding to China’s acts, Vietnam has taken various measures on site and through diplomatic and international channels. China has not withdrawn, but rather continued to commit aggressive and provocative acts, ramming ships of the Vietnamese maritime police and fisheries surveillance forces as they carried out legal law enforcement work, and attacking several Vietnamese fishing boats, causing material damages and threatening the lives of fishermen, the statement said.
It stated that China’s acts seriously violate the sovereignty and jurisdiction to the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of Vietnam and infringe upon international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), to which China is a signatory.
“These extremely dangerous actions have been directly threatening peace, stability, security and safety of navigation in the East Sea, as well as the lives of Vietnamese fishermen, running counter to the agreements between high-level leaders of the two countries, and hurting profoundly the friendship between the people, especially the farmers, of the two countries, as well as the mutual trust that the two sides have been striving to build together”, the statement said.
The VFU, its staff and its members are highly indignant about China’s wrongful and dangerous movements, and requests that China withdraw promptly and unconditionally the rig and all escort vessels from areas under Vietnamese sovereignty, that it end illegal and inhuman acts against Vietnamese fishermen in the East Sea, and that it refrain from similar moves in the future.
The statement stressed that the organisation firmly supports the Vietnamese Government’s efforts and those of law enforcement bodies in defending Vietnam’s lawful sovereignty by peaceful means in conformity with international law, calling on Vietnamese fishermen to unite closely and stick steadfastly to the sea, thereby helping defend national sovereignty and interests.
The VFU and all Vietnamese farmers always attach importance to good relations between the people of Vietnam and China, particularly between Vietnamese and Chinese farmers, and will do their best to preserve them. But territorial integrity is sacred, and the VFU, its staff and members, and all Vietnamese farmers stand energetically against encroachments upon national sovereignty and legitimate national interests, and are resolved to defend these by all means available within the limits of international law.
The Central Committee, its staff and membership, and all Vietnamese farmers call upon Chinese farmers, as well as farmers and farmers’ organisations and partners around the world, to raise their voices in defence of justice and international law, and to urge that the Chinese Government abide by international law, respect Vietnam’s lawful sovereignty, and withdraw the drilling rig and escort vessels out of waters under Vietnam’s sovereignty.
