Chinese activities in Paracel Islands ‘illegal’, says Vietnam

Beijing [China], July 9 (ANI): As China plans to deploy one of its “largest-ever” oceanographic research and training vessels in Paracel Islands, Vietnam said that all the activities in the islands without the country’s permission are “illegal”.

It has been reported that China plans to deploy one of its “largest-ever” oceanographic research and training vessels, named the Sun Yat-sen University, in October of this year, reported Vietnam News.

Speaking at the press briefing on Thursday Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said, “As we have reiterated many times, Vietnam has sufficient legal grounds and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly Islands) and Hoang Sa Islands (Paracel Islands). Vietnam has lawful rights over these waters which is provided by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)”.

Paracel Island is also known as Xisha in China and Hoang Sa in Vietnam. The island chain lies about 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Vietnam and 350 kilometres (220 miles) south of China.

The Vietnamese diplomat stressed that all research activities, surveying, and scientific exploration conducted in the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa islands, without Vietnam’s approval, constitutes a “violation of the sovereignty and relevant rights of Vietnam, and is therefore illegal and null and void.”

The South China Sea is grouped into three archipelagos including the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands. China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its sovereign territory, and it has aggressively asserted its stake in recent years.

Paracel island is disputed between China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It has been occupied by China.

Meanwhile, Spratly island is claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and to a lesser degree, Brunei. (ANI)