Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi made this statement in Hanoi on April 26 in response to reporters’ questions regarding the appointment of the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)’s to the Ad hoc Arbitration Tribunal that was established pursuant to Annex VII of the 1982 UNCLOS.
Nghi emphasised that Vietnam only learned on January 22 that the Filipino Foreign Ministry sent the Chinese Embassy a diplomatic note attached with a notice and declaration on the Philippines’ proceedings against China to the Ad hoc Arbitration Tribunal set up under Annex VII of the 1982 UNCLOS, and on April 24, the ITLOS President completed the appointment of arbitrators to the tribunal.
“As a coastal country with its legal and legitimate national rights and interests in the East Sea, Vietnam takes an interest in and keep a close watch on the process of the lawsuit”, he said.
Vietnam has sufficient legal and historical evidence and management realities affirming sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction over its waters in accordance with the 1982 UNCLOS, international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, and the country’s legal documents.
“Vietnam once again affirms its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, as well as sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction over its internal and territorial waters, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the East Sea”, Nghi stressed.
Vietnam suggests concerned parties seriously and fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed between ASEAN member nations and China in 2002, and the Joint Declaration of the 15th ASEAN–China Summit on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the DOC, he said.
The spokesperson added that Vietnam hopes ASEAN member states and China will promptly conduct official negotiations to formulate a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
