East Sea issue

>> The East Sea situation remains complicated

At 6 am on June 9, while Viking II, a ship hired by the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, was conducting seismic surveys at Lot 136/03, 60 degrees 47’5” north latitude and 1090 degrees 17’5” east longitude on Vietnam’s continental shelf, a Chinese fishing boat code-named 62226, supported by two Chinese fishery administration vessels code-named 311 and 303, deliberately hit its survey cables.

Despite the Vietnamese side’s warning, the Chinese fishing boat trailed a cable-cutting device into the vicinity of ship Viking II and became trapped in the network of underwater cables in use by the Vietnamese vessel. As a result, the ship Viking II could not operate normally. Then, the two Chinese fishery administration vessels joined with other Chinese fishing boats to rescue fishing boat 62226.

Chinese fishery administration vessel code-named 311

China’s well-prepared actions seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty and jurisdictional rights, run counter to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and go against the common views of senior leaders of the two countries on maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

Less than two weeks ago, on May 26, three Chinese marine surveillance vessels on May 26 violated the sovereignty of Vietnam's territorial waters and cut the Binh Minh 02 ship’s exploration cables.

These acts are making the situation in the East Sea more complicated.

Peace and stability in the East Sea concerns every country in the regions

Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh

Addressing the ASEAN Regional Forum  (ARF) Security Policy Conference on June 8, Deputy Defence Minister Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh said that the East Sea and the Mekong River issues have affected not only countries connected with the sea or Mekong River, or direct beneficiary countries, but also all countries in the region. He emphasized Vietnam’s stance that these extremely important issues could cause long-term consequence if they were left unresolved and needs to be settled through peaceful negotiations on the basis of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and work towards the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), as soon as possible.

In a report “Responding to New Maritime Security Threats” presented at the 10th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Minister of Defence Phung Quang Thanh said the situation in the East Sea remain stable in general.

However, he said, there are sometimes conflicts that caused concern for littoral countries. He cited that the most recent incident took place on 26 May 2011 when the Binh Minh 02 – a Vietnamese surveying ship conducting its normal oil and gas exploration activities well within Vietnam’s 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone was interrupted with its surveying cables cut, which has caused a considerable concern on the maintenance of peace and stability in the East Sea, in the region as well as the wider world.

Vietnam has exercised patience in managing the incident with peaceful means in accordance with the international laws and the principle of determinedly protecting our national sovereignty while preserving peace and stability in the East Sea, and maintaining the friendly relationship with neighbouring countries. Certainly, we truly expect no repetition of similar incidents, he said.

>> HIV/AIDS prevention requires co-ordinated efforts

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong attended the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York on June 9.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong at the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS

The Meeting was also attended by 30 state and government leaders and representative of 3,000 international, non-governmental, civil society organizations; and HIV/AIDS patients all over the world.

Vietnam has achieved initial results in preventing the growth of HIV/ AIDS and reducing the number of newly-infected cases over the past three years. The number of pregnant women having access to mother-to-child transmission prevention has increased by four times over the past five years. The number of HIV/AIDS patients accessing new treatment has also increased sharply.

Over the past 20 years, Vietnam has focused on building a national strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention , which is considered as a key programme for sustainable social development in the 2011-2015 period.

It fully supports UN’s latest initiatives on no new HIV carriers, no discrimination and no death of HIV/AIDS.

>>Joining hands to build new rural areas

A ceremony to launch a 10-year emulation movement, part of the national target programme to build new rural areas, was held in Hanoi on June 8.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung affirmed that agriculture, farmers, and rural areas provide a firm foundation for the sustainable socioeconomic development, political stability, national security and defence, and environment protection.

He said although Vietnam’s agriculture has seen significant development since the renewal process started 25 years ago, it is not yet commensurate with the country’s potential. He also called on the entire nation to join hands to build new rural areas.