Vietnam could lodge appeal against China

Following in the wake of the recent incident on May 26 when three Chinese vessels entered deep into Vietnamese territorial waters and cut the cables of a Vietnamese seismic study ship, Lao Dong newspaper interviewed Nguyen Ba Dien, Director of the Centre for Maritime Law and the Law of the Sea.

Vietnamese ships opearting in Vietnamese territorial waters. Vietnam could lodge appeal against Chinese infringement of territorial waters

Dien said “China as a permanent member of the UN Security Council must take peaceful measures, not force, to settle disputes in line with the United Nations Charter. But they have failed to conform to this regulation.”

Vietnam has strongly condemned the violation of Vietnamese sovereignty by Chinese patrol ships, but a spokeswoman from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs still insists that “The operations carried out by Chinese ships are legal”. What are your comments about this?

This is typical. The country continues to claim ownership even when there is no evidence. For example, the current Chinese claim of a nine-dotted line inclusive of the disputed Paracel and Spratly islands to confirm their sovereignty in the East Sea goes against international law. Historically, no nation has ever unilaterally drawn up water borders so close to the coast of other nations. China has continuously announced that its territorial waters include everything located inside the nine-dotted line, claiming they are historic boundaries. However these announcements are unclear and unprecedented in international law.

China’s actions seriously violate the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 as well as the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea signed between ASEAN and China. How can China justify its behaviour?

China has more than 700 newspapers which daily publish stories that claim that “Vietnam continues to plunder Chinese natural resources”. In addition China has also issued bans on fishing in the East Sea.

China has detained Vietnamese ship boats which have operated off those Paracel and Spratly islands owned by Vietnam. In terms of legal foundations, we have evidence to underline Vietnam’s ownership of those islands, although China has used force to gain control of the Paracels. China has shot at Vietnamese navy vessels, killing Vietnamese soldiers.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China must take peaceful measures, not force to settle disputes. However it continues to claim that China owns the majority of the East Sea through false evidence.

China has a strategy to eventually claim the East Sea. What should Vietnam do to protect its sovereign waters?

This requires the nation’s strength and solidarity. We should pay attention to human resource training, including experts on marine technology, lawyers, judges, and arbitrators on maritime law in order to enter into a long struggle with China. Vietnam should also focus on marine scientific research to collect enough firm evidence to use in bilateral negotiations with China via international dialogue.

Should Vietnam appeal against China at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea?

Yes, Vietnam should. In addition to diplomatic opposition, Vietnam could take other legal diplomatic actions. For instance, the Vietnamese government could lodge a complaint to the UN Security Council and United Nations General Assembly. After that, we can consider suing China at International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and International Court of Justice. These are very complicated processes which need careful consideration in terms of procedures.

On May 26, three Chinese marine surveillance vessels approached an exploration area just about 120 sea miles off the central Vietnamese coast, and about 340 sea miles from Hainan, the nearest Chinese island, Do Van Hau, Deputy General Director of PetroVietnam was cited by the Vietnam News Agency as saying.

These Chinese ships then cut the exploration cables of Binh Minh 2 seismic survey ship of PetroVietnam. The Vietnamese ship had to stop its work and return for repairs.

Chinese fishermen have also bullied their Vietnamese counterparts by threatening them with swords when they see each other. They have even called other ships to surround and intentionally crash into Vietnamese boats.