Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung

Vietnam possesses sufficient historical evidence and a legal basis to establish its indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, its coastal waters and continental shelf, an official has said.

”All activities carried out in Vietnam’s waters and continental shelf without its consent are a violation of its sovereignty and national interest and completely valueless.”

Vietnam would look to solve any dispute through peaceful negotiations on the basis of respect for international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1992 Manila Declaration on the East Sea and the Declaration on the Code of Conduct between Parties in the East Sea signed by ASEAN members and China on November 4, 2002.

All parties involved should respect the status quo and refrain from actions that would further complicate the situation, he warned.

Source: VNA