Vietnam denies reports on Truong Sa incident

The Vietnam News Agency on July 4 released an official announcement refuting reports by Chinese media that four Chinese marine surveillance ships “blocked” and “chased” Vietnamese ships in the Truong Sa Archipelago.

According to the announcement, upon discovering the Chinese ships trespassing on Vietnamese waters, relevant authorities engaged in actions to protect the country’s national sovereignty, requesting Chinese ships to move out of the island.

Vietnam has sufficient historical and legal evidence to prove its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos.

Chinese ships claiming they were “patrolling” the Spratly area seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty. The Chinese vessels’ actions, which are not in compliance with the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC), make the situation in the East Sea more complicated and affect regional security and stability.

Vietnam requests and effect China to stop these wrongful acts and comply with multilateral agreements such as the DOC and not engage in further acts to complicate the East Sea situation, says the announcement.