China must withdraw its oil rig from Viet Nam’s waters and seek a diplomatic and peaceful solution to disputes in the East Sea, Ezequiel Ramoneda, coordinator of the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Argentina’s National University of La Plata, has said.

China's ship (the left) prevents Vietnamese ship from performing duties (Source: VNA)

He said China’s illegal placement of the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 at Lot 143 in the East Sea violated the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), since this area is deep inside Viet Nam ’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), where Viet Nam  has sovereign right and jurisdiction.

Ramoneda supported Viet Nam’s stance of promoting negotiations on the basis of international law to solve disputes with China.

According to 1982 UNCLOS, as a coastal country, Viet Nam has sovereignty over all natural resource as well as drilling and exploiting activities for economic purposes in its EEZ and continental shelf. However, China’s illegal positioning of the oil rig ignored Viet Nam ’s legitimate sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago, he said.

He noted that China’s move has political motivation and was timed ahead of the 24 th ASEAN Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on May 10-11. China positioned its rig to show off its strength to the 10 ASEAN member nations, including Viet Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, with whom it is locking horns over sea and island disputes.

He added that the act was also timed to follow US President Barack Obama’s tour of Asian countries, including the Philippines and Malaysia, which indirectly created competition between China and the US.

Ramoneda said it is obvious that China is not seeking a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the East Sea issues, but is instead elevating tensions and risks of instability in the region.

The expert stressed that China’s act not only violated 1982 UNCLOS but also ran counter to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, agreed upon by China and ASEAN countries in 2002, along with agreements reached by its officials and Vietnamese counterparts.

In terms of politics, China’s actions in sea disputes with Southeast Asian countries and other nations fan the risks of an arms race and trigger a diplomatic crisis in the region, he said.
Regarding economics, the move jeopardises ASEAN - China free trade agreements and the negotiation on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement that China is pushing.

China will suffer from economic losses rather than gains in case of political crises and military conflicts set off by its unilateral use of force to take control of resources in the East Sea, he noted.

On May 2, China illegally stationed the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 12 minutes 06 seconds east longitude. The location is 80 nautical miles deep inside Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone.

It has also deployed a large number of ships of various kinds to the area, including military, coast guard, marine surveillance, marine patrol and fisheries vessels.

Chinese ships have repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons into Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries surveillance boats which are carrying out their law enforcement missions in the country’s waters, leaving many Vietnamese ships damaged and many fisheries surveillance officers injured.

(Source: VNA)