The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has expressed solidarity andsupport for Vietnam in its peaceful moves against China’s aggressiveact of illegally placing a drilling rig in Vietnam’s continentalshelf and exclusive economic zone.
In a letter sent to theVietnam Fisheries Trade Union (VFTU), WFTU Deputy General SecretaryH.Mahadevan has affirmed that his agency strongly advocates the VFTU inrequiring China to respect international law as well as Vietnam’ssovereignty and territorial waters.
He stressed that no one isallowed to hinder Vietnamese fishermen from their normal activities intheir country’s waters, and that all violating activities and attackstargeting Vietnamese fishermen are unacceptable.
As a coastalstate along the East Sea, China arbitrarily made its claim about a vague“nine-dot line” in contrary to the 1982 United Nations Convention onthe Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), infringing the waters of itsneighbouring countries, and creating the so-called “disputed area”inside the waters of its neighbours. After these moves, China hasbrazenly asked its neighbours to “set aside disputes and explore the seatogether” inside their own continental shelves.
Since thebeginning of May 2014, China boldly dispatched the rig HaiyangShiyou-981 as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships andaircraft to Vietnamese waters and positioned the rig at a location 80miles deep into the Vietnamese continental shelf and exclusive economiczone prescribed by the 1982 UNCLOS. The location is 17 nautical milesfrom Tri Ton Island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago, which wasoccupied by force by China in the 1950s.
China’s armed vesselsaggressively fired high-power water cannons at, and intentionallyrammed, Vietnamese public-service and civil ships, causing damage tomany boats and injuring many people on board.
Such actsgravely violate international law, the 1982 UNCLOS, and the Declarationon the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), to which China itselfis a signatory. These extremely dangerous acts have been directlythreatening peace, stability and maritime security and safety in theEast Sea.
Vietnam has exercised utmost restraint, showed everygesture of goodwill and exhausted all dialogue channels to communicatewith the Chinese authorities of different levels for expressing protestand demanding China to immediately withdraw its drilling rig and armedand military vessels from the Vietnamese waters.
Nevertheless,up to now, China has failed to respond to Vietnam’s legitimate demand.On the contrary, China has been slandering and blaming Vietnam whilecontinuing to escalate the use of force and acts of violation in anincreasingly dangerous and serious manner.-VNA
In a letter sent to theVietnam Fisheries Trade Union (VFTU), WFTU Deputy General SecretaryH.Mahadevan has affirmed that his agency strongly advocates the VFTU inrequiring China to respect international law as well as Vietnam’ssovereignty and territorial waters.
He stressed that no one isallowed to hinder Vietnamese fishermen from their normal activities intheir country’s waters, and that all violating activities and attackstargeting Vietnamese fishermen are unacceptable.
As a coastalstate along the East Sea, China arbitrarily made its claim about a vague“nine-dot line” in contrary to the 1982 United Nations Convention onthe Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), infringing the waters of itsneighbouring countries, and creating the so-called “disputed area”inside the waters of its neighbours. After these moves, China hasbrazenly asked its neighbours to “set aside disputes and explore the seatogether” inside their own continental shelves.
Since thebeginning of May 2014, China boldly dispatched the rig HaiyangShiyou-981 as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships andaircraft to Vietnamese waters and positioned the rig at a location 80miles deep into the Vietnamese continental shelf and exclusive economiczone prescribed by the 1982 UNCLOS. The location is 17 nautical milesfrom Tri Ton Island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago, which wasoccupied by force by China in the 1950s.
China’s armed vesselsaggressively fired high-power water cannons at, and intentionallyrammed, Vietnamese public-service and civil ships, causing damage tomany boats and injuring many people on board.
Such actsgravely violate international law, the 1982 UNCLOS, and the Declarationon the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), to which China itselfis a signatory. These extremely dangerous acts have been directlythreatening peace, stability and maritime security and safety in theEast Sea.
Vietnam has exercised utmost restraint, showed everygesture of goodwill and exhausted all dialogue channels to communicatewith the Chinese authorities of different levels for expressing protestand demanding China to immediately withdraw its drilling rig and armedand military vessels from the Vietnamese waters.
Nevertheless,up to now, China has failed to respond to Vietnam’s legitimate demand.On the contrary, China has been slandering and blaming Vietnam whilecontinuing to escalate the use of force and acts of violation in anincreasingly dangerous and serious manner.-VNA
