Tokyo (VNA) - JapaneseForeign Minister Taro Kono on August 27 stated that his country opposes anyaction that intensifies tensions in East Sea.
The minister made the statement in response to arequest by a correspondent of the Vietnam News Agency for comments onescalating tensions in the East Sea due to a series of unilateral activities byChina that seriously violate international law, sovereignty, sovereign rightsand jurisdiction; and hinder the legal longstanding oil and gas activitiesconducted in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Vietnam as well as a numberof other littoral countries.
He said that the East Sea is an importantsea line for Japan and many other countries. It is directly related to stabilityand peace of the region, adding that the international community, includingJapan, is paying serious attention to the situation in the sea.
The minister further said that after the recent EastAsia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bangkok, he has raised the concernsabout the serious situation in the East Sea, and held that the internationalcommunity should oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo and anyserious action with coercion by any country.
The top Japanese diplomat asked all the partiesconcerned to demilitalise facilities or institutions in the sea, stressing thatany dispute must be solved according to international law, including the UNConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The countries should continue emphasising theneed to uphold the rule of law in the East Sea, hestated.-VNA
Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) are two big archipelagos with key strategic locations among Vietnam’s islands, and the country’s sovereignty over them is clearly reflected through historical documents.
Vietnam has demanded China to immediately stop violations, withdraw all vessels from Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and not have actions to increase tensions, complicate the situation, and threaten peace, stability and security in the East Sea and the region, the Foreign Ministry’s Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang has said.
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The US Department of Defense on august 26 expressed its deep concern at China’s “coercive interference” in Vietnam’s longstanding oil and gas activities in the East Sea, as well as its continued efforts to violate the rules-based international order throughout the Indo-Pacific.
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Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (Photo: VNA) 
