越南就南海行為譴責中國和菲律賓

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Vietnam rebukes China, Philippines over South China Sea conduct

Thu, May 18, 2023 at 10:46 a.m. GMT+1

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam on Thursday criticised recent conduct by a Chinese research ship and the Philippine coast guard in the South China Sea, accusing its neighbours of separate actions that were violating its sovereign rights.

Tensions are high in contested parts of the South China Sea, one of the world's most important trade routes and a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.

Chinese and Vietnamese vessels confronted each other in recent days on multiple occasions as a Chinese research ship moved within Hanoi's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which experts said was likely a survey. Such a survey would usually be considered hostile if conducted without notification.

Asked for comment, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang told a press conference those vessels were "violating the sovereign rights and jurisdictions of Vietnam", which was taking "appropriate measures" to defend its rights.

China has said that scientific research is a normal activity in areas under Chinese jurisdiction.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, based on what it says are old maps, including waters that lie within the EEZ of Vietnam and four other Southeast Asian countries.

The Philippines was also rebuked for placing navigational buoys in five areas of its EEZ to assert sovereignty over the hotly disputed Spratly islands, to parts of which Vietnam also lays claim.

Asked about the Philippines' move, Hang said: "Vietnam strongly opposes all acts violating Vietnam's sovereign rights."

Philippine Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza said Manila's coast guard's installation of buoys was consistent with the country's rights as a coastal state under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"They are meant to improve safety of navigation in our waters and should be of no cause for concern," Daza told Reuters in a phone message.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Martin Petty and Bernadette Baum)

Translation

河內（路透社）- 越南周四批評中國研究船和菲律賓海岸警衛隊最近在南海的行為，指責其鄰國的單獨行動侵犯了其主權。

局勢緊張的南海受爭議海域, 南海是世界上最重要的貿易路線之一，也是每年超過 3 萬億美元的船運貿易的渠道。

最近幾天，當中國研究船進入河內專屬經濟區（EEZ）時, 中國和越南船隻多次發生正面對抗，專家稱這進入可能是一次調查活動。 如果在沒有通知的情況下進行此類調查，通常會被視為具有敵意。

在被要求發表評論時，越南外交部發言人 Pham Thu Hang 在新聞發布會上說，這些船隻 “侵犯了越南的主權權利和管轄權” ，越南正在採取 “適當措施”捍衛自己的權利。

中方表示，科學研究是在中國管轄範圍內的正常活動。

中國根據它所說的舊地圖，聲稱幾乎整個南中國海都是其領土，包括位於越南和其他四個東南亞國家專屬經濟區內的水域。

菲律賓還因在其專屬經濟區的五個區域放置航行浮標, 以維護對受激烈爭議的南沙群島的主權而受到越南指責，越南也對其中部分島嶼提出了主權要求。

當被問及菲律賓的舉動時，Hang說： “越南強烈反對一切侵犯越南主權的行為。”

菲律賓外交部發言人 Teresita Daza 表示，馬尼拉海岸警衛隊安裝浮標符合該國根據《聯合國海洋法公約》作為沿海國家的權利。

Daza 在電話留言中告訴路透社: “浮標旨在提高我們水域的航行安全，因此無需擔心”。

              So, Vietnam criticized  Chinese for its ship doing research in Hanoi's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and also objected to the action of the Philippine coast guard in the South China Sea. Obviously South-China Sea is a hot spot for potential conflicts.