The government and people of Da Nang are strongly opposing China’s unilateral action of bringing the HD-981 oil drilling rig, and a large number of vessels including military ships, to operate in Viet Nam’s territorial waters.

To strongly denounce China’s illegal move, the Chairman of the Da Nang War Veterans’ Association, Mr Thai Thanh Hung, remarked that the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos belong to Viet Nam.  He also strongly affirmed that Viet Nam has sacred and imprescriptible sovereignty over the islands.  Moreover, Chairman Hung pledged that the Association always totally supports the State’s policies to settle disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international laws and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  In addition, it is essential to seek basic and long-term solutions acceptable to both the Vietnamese and Chinese sides for the sea-related issues.

A map showing that the location of China’s drilling rig is entirely within Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf

For his part, the former Chairman of the Hoang Sa Island People’s Committee, Mr Dang Cong Ngu, said that China illegally placed the drilling rig at latitude 15°29’58’’ N and longitude 111°12’06’’ E.  This location is entirely within Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.  Obviously, China is seriously going against international laws and the UNCLOS, as well as violating an agreement guiding the basic principles for settlement of sea-related issues.  This agreement was signed between representatives of China and Viet Nam on 11 October 2011.  According to ex-chairman Ngu, China’s recent actions clearly prove that it is infringing Viet Nam’s sovereignty intentionally, as part of China’s strategy to have exclusive rights over the East Sea.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Da Nang Fishery Association, Mr Tran Van Linh, expressed his strong discontent about China’s illegal placement of the rig in the Hoang Sa waters, where Vietnamese people have conducted legal fishing activities over many historical periods.  On behalf of the Association’s staff members, Chairman Linh demands that China immediately withdraw its drilling rig and vessels from Viet Nam’s territorial waters.  In addition, China is also being asked to stop chasing away Da Nang’s fishing vessels and other Vietnamese boats which are operating legitimately in their national waters, as well as take no further provocative actions.  He also vowed that his Association will support local fishermen to increase fishing activities in the Hoang Sa waters.  This will help them to earn a living to support their families as well as combine with Vietnamese naval and fisheries surveillance forces and with the maritime police to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty over its sea and islands.