Vietnam keeps close watch on East Vietnam Sea developments: foreign ministry

The foreign ministry’s spokesperson Pham Thu Hang made the statement at a regular press conference in Hanoi on Thursday in response to media questions about a Chinese vessel’s illegal survey activities within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone in the East Vietnam Sea.

All research and survey activities by foreign countries conducted in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, as defined under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), without Vietnam’s permission violate the nation’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction, Hang stressed.

This is not the first time the ministry has spoken out against foreign activities carried out without permission in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.

Both Vietnam and China are parties to UNCLOS 1982, which Hanoi ratified in 1994.

As a coastal nation with a coastline exceeding 3,260 kilometers and as a UNCLOS member, Vietnam fully enjoys all rights and fulfills all obligations defined by the convention, including those related to its internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf.

On July 17, 2024, the foreign ministry officially submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) its documentation for Vietnam’s extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the central East Vietnam Sea, Hang added.