NGOs in Vietnam ask for UN action to settle East Sea issue
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN) should issue a joint statement to help defuse current tensions in the East Vietnam Sea caused by China’s illegal oil rig deployment in Vietnamese waters, many non-governmental organizations in the Southeast Asian country have suggested.
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| Participants at the conference of international non-governmental organizations in Vietnam in Hanoi on May 13, 2014 |
The event focused on the present situation in the East Vietnam Sea, where China has deployed the drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou (HD 981) in Vietnam’s waters since May 1.
At the conference, the 16 international non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement, expressing their concerns about the East Vietnam Sea face-off between Vietnam and China, and calling the related parties to cease hostility and agree to a dispute settlement mechanism with the mediation of the UN.
The organizations also recommended the parties to use diplomatic and peaceful measures and not to launch a military confrontation in the drilling rig area.
They urged the ASEAN Secretariat and the UN issued a statement demanding an end to the stand-off and set up teams to collect and verify information, as well as initiate solutions to resolve the conflict.
They also called on social organizations of ASEAN, China, and Vietnam to provide objective information and encourage people to protect their right to live in peace.
Dr. Nguyen Vu Tung, at the Institute for East Sea Studies, an inviting speaker, told the conference that the situation in the waters where the Chinese oil rig is located has become dangerous as the platform’s escort ships have repeatedly rammed or fired water cannons at Vietnamese vessels.
The Vietnamese side has exercised restraint for the past two weeks but any restraint has its limit, Tung said.
He added that since China used force to attack and occupy Hoang Sa (Paracels) in 1974, Vietnam and China has had a dispute on the sovereignty over the archipelago.
In 2009, China unilaterally announced its “cow’s tongue line,” also called the nine-dash line, to claim its sovereignty over much of the East Vietnam Sea. However, China has failed to show any legal foundation for such a line.
Meanwhile, “Vietnam is very confident in its historical and legal evidence that proves the country’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa,” Tung said.
China poses threat to maritime security
By deploying its oil rig in Vietnamese waters, China has not only violated Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction but also posed a threat to maritime safety and security in the area, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, told the conference.
Beijing has illegally banned the operation of ships within a radius of three nautical miles from the rig, Dr. Anh pointed out.
Dr. Anh, citing a source from the Vietnam Coast Guard, said that when some Vietnamese ships recently entered an area 7-10 nautical miles from the rig, they were attacked by Chinese vessels.
“Once this has happened to Vietnamese ships, it could also happen to any vessel that travels through the area,” she further explained.
She emphasized that by illegally planting the rig in the waters, China has obviously limited the right to freedom of navigation provided for in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Vietnam has judicial power
Major General Le Van Cuong, former director of the Strategy Institute under the Ministry of Public Security, told the meeting that Vietnam has been unable to “live in peace” with China since 2010, as Beijing often causes trouble for Hanoi.
This time, in response to China’s illegal oil rig deployment, Vietnam, as well as the international community, has taken action against it more rapidly and resolutely, Cuong said.
He added that many people had told him about their concern that Vietnam is inferior to China considering their balance of power.
The official replied to them that in international dispute settlement, every country relies on two elements that form its strength: material power, and the cultural, spiritual and judicial power.
“China has great material power, but it has no juridical and moral power. Meanwhile, we Vietnamese people have juridical power and an unyielding spirit against invaders,” the official insisted.
Source: Tuoi Tre
