Addressing the workshop in Paris on June 17, Vietnamese AmbassadorDuong Chi Dung highlighted Vietnam’s great achievements after nearlythree decades of reform. In the context of a prolonged economic crisisof the globe, the nation manages to maintain a growth rate of over 5percent and has become an attractive destination to investors thanks tomany preferential policies, Dung stated.
Thediplomat also updated delegates on the current East Sea tension,stressing China’s provocative actions since its illegal placement of theHaiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone andcontinental shelf in early May.
Chinese ships,dispatched to defend the rig, have aggressively rammed at and firedwater cannons against Vietnam’s coast guard and fisheries surveillanceforce ships and fishing vessels, he said, adding that these acts haveseriously infringed international law, the 1982 United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea.
Participants, who arerepresentatives from the legislative body, diplomatic agencies andFrench experts on Vietnam, voiced their objection to China’s illegalactions and asked the country to get its rig out of Vietnam’s waters andrespect international law.
Senator Marie-ChristineBlandin, Chairwoman of the French Senate’s Committee on Culture,Education and Communication and Vice Chair of the France-VietnamFriendship Parliamentarians’ group, expressed her concern over theescalating tensions in the East Sea. That Chinese ships hit and sank aVietnamese fishing boat is a dangerous act which oversteps the boundary,she said and demanded that China respect signed agreements andinternational law and regulations on the sea. “We will stay side by sideVietnam in your struggle to safeguard sovereignty,” she said.
Meanwhile, General Daniel Schaeffer, former advisor of the FrenchDefence Minister and an expert on the East Sea, suggested Vietnam shouldshow the international community the soundness of its actions anddemand China respect international law.-VNA