The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) transits through South China Sea while conducting routine underway operations, February 5, 2021. — Photo from the US Department of Defense HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam is a responsible member of the international community and always upholds provisions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS 1982), spokesperson for the foreign ministry Lê Thị Thu Hằng said. She made the statement on Thursday in the regular press briefing, held virtually this time due to COVID-19 in Hà Nội, when asked for Việt Nam’s reaction to the US Navy’s first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) held under the Biden administration in February. The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain reportedly conducted the FONOP near the Trường Sa (Spratly) and Hoàng Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes in the South China Sea (known as the East Sea by Việt Nam) over which Việt Nam has repeatedly claimed sovereignty, but contested by mainland China and China’s Taiwan. “By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants,” the US Navy noted in a statement. Also regarding the recent statement by French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly that France had sent the nuclear submarine, SNA Emeraude, to patrol the South China Sea, together with the naval support ship BSAM Seine, the said spokesperson said: “As a responsible member of the international community and a signatory of the UNCLOS 1982, Việt Nam always upholds the provisions of the UNCLOS, including items related to maritime and flight activities over the sea regions set up in accordance with UNCLOS 1982.” “The maintenance of peace, stability, security and order, safety, maritime and overflight freedom, the rule of law, with respect to sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the littoral countries in the South China Sea, in a manner that is consistent with the UNCLOS 1982, is …
Biden
US warships in South China Sea, Vietnam appeals for peace
Vietnam hopes all countries will continue contributing positively to maintaining peace and stability on the basis of international law in the East Sea, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet Thursday. In Vietnam, the South China Sea is called the East Sea. Hang said maintaining peace, stability, order, security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight, obeying the law, respecting sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of countries along the East Sea in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) should be the common goal, interest, responsibility and aspiration of all concerned states as well as the international community. "The activities of all countries in the East Sea need to contribute to this common goal. As a responsible member of the international community and a member of UNCLOS, Vietnam abides by the convention's provisions, including regulations relating to maritime and aviation operations in the sea area that have been set up in accordance with the convention," she added. The destroyer USS John S. McCain on February 5 sailed near Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands in the East Sea in a freedom of navigation operation, marking the first such mission under President Joe Biden’s new administration. On February 17, U.S. destroyer USS Russell conducted another freedom of navigation operation, sailing near Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands. Washington has denounced what it calls Beijing’s attempts to bully neighbors with competing interests; and China has similarly denounced what it calls U.S. efforts to foment unrest in the region and interfere in what it regards as its internal affairs. The recent actions suggest that the Biden administration is not about to scale back operations challenging Beijing’s claims after the ramp-up seen during the Trump administration, analysts have noted. China seized the Paracel Islands from South Vietnam by force in 1974, and has …
[Read more...] about US warships in South China Sea, Vietnam appeals for peace
World News in Brief: February 25
* The militaries of India and Pakistan said in a rare joint statement on Thursday that they had agreed to observe a ceasefire along the disputed border in Kashmir, having exchanged fire hundreds of times in recent months. * Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Bahrain's Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Thursday about the Gulf state's possible involvement in establishing a vaccine plant in Israel, a statement from the Israeli leader's office said . * Rescue teams in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province searched for survivors on Thursday after a landslide in an illegal gold mining area killed six people, the search and rescue agency said. At least 15 survivors had been found as of Thursday. * Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of an attempted military coup against him on Thursday after the army demanded he and his government resign. * Australia's parliament passed a law on Thursday to make Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc pay media companies for content on their platforms in reforms that countries such as Britain and Canada are looking to replicate. * India reported 16,738 new coronavirus infections, health ministry data showed on Thursday, for the highest daily jump since January 29, according to a Reuters tally. India's tally of 11.05 million infections is the world's second highest after the United States, and daily numbers are rising again after a lull in the last few months. * Russia on Thursday reported 11,198 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including 1,406 in Moscow, pushing the national case tally to 4,212,100 since the pandemic began. The coronavirus taskforce said that 446 people had died in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 84,876. * The Philippines will take delivery of its first COVID-19 vaccines at the weekend, allowing it to kick off its inoculation programme from next week, a senior official said on Thursday. * Indonesia will receive at least two million doses of a …
