Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday told voters in the northern city of Hai Phong that no third country has voiced support for China’s deployment of a giant oil rig into Vietnamese waters.
PM Dung made the comment during a meeting with the residents of Hong Bang District.
Although the situation is serious, Vietnam has always acted with restraint and sought to settle the dispute via peaceful talks, he said.
Representatives from Vietnam and China have already met 10 times to discuss the matter, and Vietnam has repeatedly demanded that China withdraw the rig and its protective armada from Vietnamese waters, according to the PM.
China has ignored these requests and continues to send additional vessels to prevent Vietnamese ships from approaching the rig, he said.
At the time of his comments, more than 90 Chinese vessels had entered Vietnamese waters and remained willing to ram and fire high-pressure hoses at any Vietnamese ship in the rig’s vicinity.
Vietnam’s coast guard and fisheries surveillance forces, meanwhile, continue to use loudspeakers to persuade Chinese forces to back off, according to PM Dung.
“We will use all peaceful measures to ask for China’s withdrawal while, at the same time, calling for international support in this matter,” he said.
No one is on China’s side in this matter, the PM added.
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Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) shakes hand with voters in the northern city of Hai Phong on May 15
Anh VuThanh Nien News
More : Vietnam, PM, voters, China, oil rig, waters
Đăng ký: VietNam News