Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with Chinese embassy staff on Thursday to protest the nation’s latest military exercise around the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands, according to the ministry.

 

The exercise violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands as well as the terms of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed between China and ASEAN countries in 2002, the ministry said.

 

China needs to cease complicating established sovereignty, comply with existing treaties, and contribute to the East Sea’s peace, a spokesperson from the Vietnamese ministry said.

 

According to Chinese Xinhua Agency, China dispatched naval forces to the islands in an anti-piracy exercise on February 24.