HANOI (TASS): Vietnam demands that China respect its sovereignty in the South China Sea (SCS) and calls on the Chinese side to immediately withdraw fishing vessels from the Vietnamese waters in the Spratly archipelago. This was stated on Thursday at a press briefing in Hanoi by Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) Pham Thu Hang, commenting on foreign media reports that more than 100 Chinese fishing vessels are fishing in the waters of Spratly.
“We demand from China to urgently cease the activities of fishing vessels in the Chinton Islands, which are part of the Vietnamese Truongsha Archipelago [the Vietnamese name of Spratly],” the diplomat said, stressing that China’s actions violate international law and Vietnam’s sovereignty.
According to her, Vietnam “has full historical evidence and legal grounds to confirm its sovereignty over the Truongsha Archipelago in accordance with the provisions of international law.” “With its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the sea areas, which are determined by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Vietnam demands that China withdraw fishing vessels from the Truongsha water area and respect its sovereignty,” stressed the deputy spokesman for the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.
The Spratly Archipelago and the neighboring Paracel Islands have been the cause of multinational conflict in the SCS for many years.
Despite the fact that the main persons involved in the dispute over the ownership of these territories are Vietnam and China, in addition to them, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines also declare partial or complete claims to the islands and the surrounding waters.
In addition to their strategic location at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific oceans, the value of the islands is determined by the fact that, according to expert estimates, significant reserves of oil and minerals are concentrated on their shelf, the development of which each of the parties to this conflict seeks to start.
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