Vietnam–Australia diplomatic ties marked in the NT

The Vietnamese Consulate General in Perth in Western Australia (WA) and the authorities of The Northern Territory (NT) held a ceremony on March 7 to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of Vietnam–Australia diplomatic ties.

The Vietnamese Consulate General in Perth presents the Northern Territory of Australia a traditional lithophone. -- Photo: By the Vietnamese Consulate General in Perth.

The ceremony was attended by the local authority and council, social economic organisations and businesses, and overseas Vietnamese in the NT.

Addressing the ceremony, Consul General Le Viet Duyen highlighted the development in relations between the two countries over the past 40 years, particularly after they established a comprehensive partnership in 2009.

The recent establishment of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Perth was also evidence of the two sides’ efforts to boost relations, stressed Duyen.

The NT Chief Minister Terry Mills sent greetings to the Government and people of Vietnam.

Mills expressed his admiration for Vietnam’s achievements in the past years, and committed to create all possible conditions to foster cooperation between the NT and Vietnam, and the sister province of Ba Ria Vung Tau in particular.

The Vietnamese Consul General presented the NT a traditional lithophone made by a Vietnamese craftsman, as a symbol of Vietnamese culture.

Vietnam opposes CMS detachment stationed on Hoang Sa

On March 9, a China Marine Surveillance (CMS) detachment was officially assigned to the so called “Sansha City”—an area that includes Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

The Xinhua News Agency quoted Fleet Deputy Commander Yang Zong brazenly stating his team will conduct regular patrol and observation missions.

Zhang Weijian, an official with CMS's South Sea fleet, said CMS has expanded its Sansha waters administration and effectively covered the whole South China Sea (The East Sea).

This violation of Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty follows in the wake of other recent inflammatory acts.

The so-called “Sansha City”, encompassing the two Vietnamese  archipelagos, was established on Vietnam’s Phu Lam island  in July 2012 in defiance of Vietnamese and international community protests.

Vietnam reaffirmed its sovereignty over the two archipelagos on March 7.

At a recent regular Foreign Ministry press briefing, ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi stated all actions in the region that occur without Vietnam’s explicit permission are violations of Vietnamese sovereignty and resolutely opposed.

Nation protests over US courage award

The US State Department should not have presented this year's International Women of Courage Award to someone who violated Vietnamese law like Ta Phong Tan, said Luong Thanh Nghi, the spokesman for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nghi said that the action could detriment the development of the two countries' relationship.

Tan, a former police officer and freelance blogger in southern Bac Lieu Province, was arrested in September 2011 for distorting the truth and denigrating the Party and the State. She was accused of creating anxiety among citizens and supporting schemes to overthrow the Vietnamese Government.

VNN/VNS/VOV/VNA