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| Vietnamese people living in Japan march in Tokyo on Sunday in protest against China’s illegal actions in the East Sea. — KYODO/VNA Photo |
HA NOI (VNS) — Peaceful protests erupted in major cities across the country over the weekend, with demonstrators shouting slogans demanding China to remove its oil rig from Vietnamese waters.
In Ha Noi, demonstrators gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy on Hoang Dieu Street and Lenin Park on Sunday, carrying slogans such as “Haiyang 981 get out of Viet Nam” and “We are with the government in protecting the nation, Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly).”
The demonstrations attracted people from all walks of life: war veterans, students, youngsters, intellectuals, office workers and elders, all chanting and singing patriotic songs. Many young protesters wore T-shirts bearing the image of “Uncle Ho”.
“Our generation has already shed too much blood to protect the country. We don’t want this generation to deal with this. Our sovereignty must be protected,” war veteran Nguyen Ngoc Thach told online newspaper Vnexpress.
Social media was flooded with news about China’s acts and Viet Nam’s reactions, with users calling on one another to spread words of patriotism and join the protests.
In HCM City, about 5,000 people gathered in the downtown area over the weekend, marching toward the Chinese Consulate General’s office on Hai Ba Trung Street.
Trinh Quoc Tuan, 30, who carried his 18-month-old baby in the protest, said that even though patriotism was something that not many people thought about day to day, he wanted to show that it still exists.
“I want to instill a sense of patriotism in my child even though she’s still very young,” Tuan said. “I’m very pleased to join people that I have never met as we stand together for this same cause.”
In the central city of Da Nang, local government and people decried China’s unilateral action of bringing an oil drilling rig and a large number of vessels including military ships into Viet Nam’s waters, Da Nang Today reported.
Chairman of the Da Nang War Veterans’ Association Thai Thanh Hung said that the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos belonged to Viet Nam, making clear that the association completely supported the State’s policy of settling disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international laws and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In addition, it was essential to find solutions for sea-related issues that were acceptable to both the Vietnamese and Chinese sides, he said.
Former Chairman of the Hoang Sa Island District People’s Committee Dang Cong Ngu said that the Chinese drilling rig was located within Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. Thus, China was seriously violating international law, UNCLOS and a 2011 agreement on settlement of sea-related issues.
According to Ngu, China’s recent actions proved clearly that the neighbouring country was intentionally infringing on Viet Nam’s sovereignty as part of a strategy to gain exclusive rights over the East Sea.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Da Nang Fishery Association Tran Van Linh said it was illegal and morally wrong for China to place its rig in waters where Vietnamese people had conducted legal fishing activities for centuries.
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| In the southern city of Can Tho, more than 2,000 people from all walks of life protested the illegal presence of a Chinese oil rig in Vietnamese waters. They also expressed their belief in and strong support for the Party and State’s policy to protect the country’s sovereignty and settle disputes in the East Sea peacefully. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong |
On behalf of the association’s staff members, Linh demanded that China immediately withdraw its drilling rig and vessels from Viet Nam’s waters. In addition, he requested that the country stop chasing away Da Nang fishing vessels and other Vietnamese boats that were operating legitimately in their national waters. He vowed that his association would support local fishermen to earn a living and work with Vietnamese naval and fishery surveillance forces and maritime police to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty over its sea and islands.
Thousands of fishermen and members of the fishery trade union in the central province of Quang Nam also protested China’s recent violations of Vietnamese sovereignty on Sunday.
China’s illegal placement of a drilling rig and deployment of many escorting ships within Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf stirred up discontent among the Vietnamese people and caused difficulties for fishermen, they said.
Quang Nam fishermen expressed their anger at Chinese ships for ramming on-duty Vietnamese coast guard and fishery administration vessels, causing damage and injuring crew members. They demanded the country promptly withdraw its rig and ships from Viet Nam’s waters and immediately stop provocative actions that hindered their livelihood.
Ho Thanh Huong, head of the fisheries trade union in Binh Minh commune, Thang Binh district, called on the fishermen to promote solidarity and continue working determinedly at sea, contributing to protecting national sea and island sovereignty.
Like their colleagues in Quang Nam, fishermen in the central province of Quang Ngai have continued fishing as usual despite Chinese aggression. Quang Ngai has nearly 6,000 fishing boats, including 2,400 operating in Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.
Diaspora protests
Overseas Vietnamese in many countries around the world also took to the streets to protest China’s illegal act. In Japan, they marched from Tokyo’s Aoyama Park, bearing banners in Vietnamese, Japanese and English calling for China to remove the rig immediately.
Vice President and Secretary General of the Association of Vietnamese People in Japan Phan Huu Duy Quoc said China’s deployment of the drilling rig followed other provocative acts such as cutting exploration cables on Vietnamese vessels, burning Vietnamese fishing boats and detaining Vietnamese fishermen.
Meanwhile in Berlin, about 5,000 people held a rally in Potsdamer Platz to oppose China’s violation of international law.
Speaking in front of the crowd, Le Hong Cuong, head of the rally’s organisers, reiterated that China had positioned its rig in Lot 143, well within Viet Nam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, before attacking and damaging ships from Viet Nam’s Coast Guard and Fisheries Surveillance Authority.
Siegfried Sommer, Chairman of the German-Viet Nam Association, who joined the rally, said China’s act was unacceptable, as it ran counter to international law and caused insecurity in the region and the world.
Hundreds of people held a peaceful protest at the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt on May 10.
In France, Vietnamese people released a statement denouncing China’s violation of Viet Nam’s sovereignty following a meeting of representatives from Vietnamese associations in Paris.
People in Singapore expressed similar feelings, saying they hoped to get people around the world to understand the East Sea situation and recognise how Vietnamese people loved peace and national independence and wished to avoid disputes.
On May 10, the Vietnamese Embassy in Mozambique held a meeting to update the Vietnamese community there on the current development in the East Sea.
Ambassador Nguyen Van Trung briefed community members on China’s brutal violation of Vietnamese sovereignty, making it clear that Viet Nam prioritised dialogue and negotiations with its neighbours to settle disputes through peaceful measures and would continue providing fresh information on the situation.
During the meeting, the Association of Vietnamese People in Mozambique pledged to work harder to help fishermen in Ly Son Island and support the Coast Guard of Viet Nam in safeguarding national sovereignty.
Yesterday, the Viet Nam Committee for Asian-African-Latin American Solidarity and Co-operation issued a statement protesting the placement of the rig.
The statement said the Committee was resolutely opposed to China’s action and called on all peace-loving organisations, forces and people in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the world to urge China to put an end to unilateral moves threatening regional peace, stability and security and respect international law and Viet Nam’s lawful sovereignty.
Aviation impact
In another development, a senior airline official has warned that China’s illegal placement of a drilling rig in Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone in the East Sea is an “extremely serious action and will definitely impact the aviation market between Viet Nam and China”.
The market “may face a decline caused by the serious incident in the East Sea,” Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam, told Vietnam News Agency yesterday.
Thanh said airspace over the East Sea was one of the busiest international air routes in the world. He said that the sudden increase in non-regular flights in the area could hamper the operation of normal flights.
The Vietnamese authority has instructed the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation to pay special attention to ensuring the safety of air routes across the flashpoint area. There are about 80 flights a week between the two nations.
Japan, UK call for de-escalation of East Sea tensions
TOKYO — Japan expressed support yesterday for ASEAN leaders’ calls for restraint and a de-escalation of tensions in the East Sea following Beijing’s commencement of oil drilling in waters off Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.
“We hope that countries concerned will refrain from taking unilateral actions that will heighten the tensions, and act calmly in accordance with relevant international law,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.
His comments came after the leaders of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed concern over China’s attacks on Vietnamese vessels near the Hoang Sa Archipelago.
The leaders urged all parties to exercise self-restraint and resolve maritime and territorial disputes by peaceful means without resorting to threats or use of force, as they adopted the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration at the end of their summit in the Myanmar capital.
Suga, the government’s top spokesman, said Japan is “deeply concerned” about the heightened regional tension due to “China’s unilateral drilling activity”.
On May 10, British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire said on an official website that the incident has led to increased tensions in the South China Sea.
“The UK supports the EU statement issued on May 8, and has raised the issue with the Chinese government at the ministerial level. We urge all parties to exercise restraint and seek to de-escalate the situation,” he said.
The statement by the EU said that it was concerned about the incidents involving China and Viet Nam relating to the movements of the Chinese oil rig HD981.
“In particular, the EU is concerned that unilateral actions could affect the security environment in the region, as evidenced by reports about the recent collision of Vietnamese and Chinese vessels,” it said.
“We urge all parties concerned to seek peaceful and cooperative solutions in accordance with international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to continue ensuring safety and freedom of navigation,” it said.
“We also call on the parties to undertake de-escalating measures and refrain from any unilateral action which would be detrimental to peace and stability in the region,” it said, adding that the EU would follow developments closely.
Marine forces pledge continued resistance
HA NOI — Chinese maritime surveillance ships, military vessels and fighter jets yesterday continued to harass Vietnamese forces trying to prevent an illegally-installed oil rig from drilling on Viet Nam’s continental shelf.
The Viet Nam Coast Guard reported that to protect the US$1 billion Haiyang Shiyou 981, Chinese vessels continuously fired water cannons at Vietnamese ships yesterday morning.
At the same time, Chinese missile frigate 534 and Chinese helicopter B-7112 entered Vietnamese sea and air territory, the coast guard said.
According to a report by the Tuoi Tre newspaper (Youth), after being attacked by 15 Chinese maritime surveillance ships with water cannons, a Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ship used its own water cannon in defence.
Two reporters from the newspaper, who were on the Vietnamese ship, said that the counter-attack lasted an hour. They also reported that many of the Chinese ships intentionally rammed Vietnamese ships.
The newspaper quoted the Vietnamese vessel’s captain as saying that the Vietnamese fisheries surveillance and coast-guard forces would make no concession to the Chinese and would appropriately respond to any violations of Viet Nam’s sovereignty. — VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
