VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly’s spokesman said on Tuesday that the NA’s press release on May 21 can be considered as an official statement on the East Sea dispute.



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Mr. Nguyen Hanh Phuc and Mr. Truong Minh Tuan at the press conference on Tuesday.




At a press conference about the results of the 7th NA session on Tuesday, the head of the NA Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc and Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan answered questions from correspondents.

Q: Before the increasingly perverse acts of China, many NA deputies had asked the NA to issue a statement or a resolution on the East Sea tensions. How did the NA respond to this proposal?

Mr. Nguyen Hanh Phuc: After the opening session, the NA heard the government’s additional report on the East Sea situation.

The issue was also discussed in a plenary session and in groups very carefully. The NA issued a statement on China’s violations, including four points:

1/Affirming that China’s deployment of its oil rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf is the serious violations of the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of Vietnam and the severe violation of international law; 2/the NA and the Vietnamese people resolutely oppose China’s acts and asked China to withdraw its oil rig out of Vietnam’s waters; 3/Expressing gratitude to international organizations that have supported Vietnam in this regard; 4/Showing consensus with the Party and State's policy on tenaciously struggling to defend the country’s sovereignty.

Saying that the situation will develop in a complicated manner, the NA said the situation requires the Party and the people to unite and maintain political stability to develop the country and friendly relations between the two countries.

Q: What is the difference between a statement and a resolution?

Mr. Truong Minh Tuan: Each session the NA issues only one resolution on general issues and along with it a statement emphasizing a special issue. In this case, the NA had issued a press release which can be seen as the statement emphasizing the East Sea issue.

Q: But many delegates said that the legal validity of the press release or announcement could not compare to that of a statement.

Mr. Nguyen Hanh Phuc: The press release is the statement. I think it can be considered as a declaration of the NA.

Q: Many delegates expressed concerns about Vietnam’s dependence on China in terms of economics. What is the NA’s plan to improve the situation?

Mr. Truong Minh Tuan: Vietnam’s economy is not dependent on any other country. We are always self-reliant and have self-control completely. China is not the only trade partner of ours. In international relations, we are equal to other nations in the world.

Q: How does the NA consider China’s deployment of four more oil rigs in the East Sea?

Mr. Truong Minh Tuan: The East Sea is not owned by any single country. It is normal if China pulls four or 10 oil rigs to the East Sea. The matter is where they anchor the oil rigs. If they set the oil rigs in Hainan, it's their job but if they deploy the oil rigs in the exclusive economic zone of any nation, that nation will voice objection. By now, both you and I do not know where they will put the above oil rigs.

 

 

On the evening of May 21, after the second day of the 7th NA session, the NA issued a press release showing the NA’s attitude on China’s acts in the East.

The press release confirmed that China’s placement of the drilling rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf has violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, infringed international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and ran against the agreements reached by the two Parties and States. The situations on the East Sea are serious. Peace and security are being threatened.

The NA and people, soldiers and overseas Vietnamese expressed concerns and resolutely opposed violations of the Chinese side, asking China to withdraw its drilling rig out of Vietnam’s waters.

The NA also expressed thanks to international organizations, individual and opinions supporting Viet Nam.

The NA agreed with the guidelines of the Party and State to take resolute measures to protect the country's sovereignty and territory in line with international laws and call for keeping a peaceful and sustainable environment for national development and maintaining the traditional relationship between Vietnam and China.

As the situations on the East Sea are complex and unpredictable, the NA proposed that the Government, ministries and agencies and people maintain political stability, guarantee social security, order and safety and create a favorable environment to achieve set goals pertaining to socio-economic development, national defense and security and diplomacy.


 

Tran Cham