Vietnam Lawyers demand removal of illegal Chinese oil rig

The Vietnam Lawyers Federation (VLF) on Sunday issued a statement opposing the illegal operation of China’s oil rig

Vietnam Lawyers Federation demands removal of illegal Chinese oil rig

The Vietnam Lawyers Federation (VLF) on Sunday issued a statement opposing the illegal operation of China’s oil rig HD 981 in Vietnamese waters and demanding that China withdraw the platform from the waters immediately.

The deployment of the oil rig has violated the Southeast Asian country’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over the East Vietnam Sea, lawyer Nguyen Minh Tam, deputy general secretary of the VLF said in the statement.

The statement was released after an extraordinary meeting of the VLF’s standing committee, during which the organization affirmed that it will provide the government with legal foundations and take part in actions aimed at protecting the country’s sovereignty.

China has been infringing Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the East Vietnam Sea, the VLF said.

It has seriously violated the basic principles of international public law and regulations in the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, unilaterally rejected its own commitments in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea, and gone against the consent between the high-ranking leaders of the two countries.

Its acts have not only harmed peace and security in the East Vietnam Sea but also posed a threat to the maritime security and safety of the international community in Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific, the VLF said.

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Source: http://tuoitrenews.vn