Taiwan's planned oil and gas exploration in the sea around Ba Binh Island seriously violates Vietnam's sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago, causes international tension and complicates the situation in the East Sea, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi has said.
"Given the plethora of legal and historical evidence affirming Vietnamese sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, Vietnam demands the Taiwanese side immediately cancel its plan," Nghi told a press conference yesterday.
Although China and Taiwan recently voiced concern that the Law on the Sea of Vietnam might affect relations with other countries in the region, the spokesperson said the adoption of the law was a normal and necessary action for a sovereign coastal state and a member of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
He added that the Law on the Sea clearly affirms the country's policy of peacefully settling the differences in the East Sea on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS and related agreements and mechanisms, and that the law aims to maintain peace, stability, security and co-operation in the East Sea.
Vietnam opposes Taiwan's oil plans
Taiwan's planned oil and gas exploration in the sea around Ba Binh Island seriously violates Vietnam's sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago.
Source: VNS
