Disputed islands in south china sea

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Việt Nam Lê Thị Thu Hằng during Thursday press briefing held in Hà Nội. — Photo from the ministry HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam on Thursday denounced China’s illegal military exercise in the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) archipelago as a serious violation of its sovereignty over the South China Sea Island chain. The spokesperson for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng made the remarks during a press briefing in Hà Nội, in response to requests for a reaction to the announcement from China’s Hainan Province’s Department for Ocean Affairs about a June 19 drill in the waters off of Phú Lâm (Woody) Island, part of Hoàng Sa, which Việt Nam claims as its own. The military drill “goes against the spirit of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), complicates the situation, is not conducive to the ongoing negotiations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the Code of … [Read more...] about Việt Nam denounces China’s military drill, asserts sovereignty over island chains in South China Sea

An important legal framework On the basis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed the Vietnam Law of the Sea on June 21, 2012. The law started to officially take effect from January 1, 20213, serving as an important legal framework to regulate Vietnam’s relations at sea and oceans. Dr. Tran Cong Truc shared that the Vietnam Law of the Sea has 54 articles in seven chapters. There are four contents legalized in the law, namely the demarcation of sea areas and continental shelves and assertion of sovereignty over islands and archipelagos; activities in Vietnamese waters; marine economic development; and the management and protection of sea and islands. Article 1 of the Law of the Sea of Vietnam states, “This law provides regulations concerning the baseline, internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, islands, the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands, the Truong Sa … [Read more...] about Part 2: Vietnam Law of the Sea adds more legal basis to UNCLOS

That statement was made by Dr. Tran Cong Truc, former head of the Government Border Committee. An international comprehensive legal document On April 30, 1982, the third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea passed a new convention named The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. On June 23, 1994, Vietnam was one of the first countries in the world to ratify the convention and became a member of UNCLOS. According to Dr. Tran Cong Truc, UNCLOS 1982 was built on the basis of “whole package,” including all aspects related to the law of the sea. This is a comprehensive international legal document that consists of all the most important legal contents and practices in reality concerning seas and oceans. The most important part of the convention is that it devises a united measure of defining waters and continental shelf under the sovereignty and sovereign and jurisdiction rights of coastal countries. The convention also defines clearly the rights and … [Read more...] about Part 1: A fair look into UNCLOS 1982 needed