Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lê Hải Bình. — Photo vietq.vn

HÀ NỘI (VNS) — Việt Nam resolutely rejects and strongly protests China’s actions, and demands that China does not repeat similar actions, respects Việt Nam’s sovereignty and international law, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lê Hải Bình spoke at the ministry’s press conference yesterday.

His statement was to respond to a series of China’s recent activities such as sending a 10,000-tonne vessel carrying 300 tourists to Ốc Hoa island in Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Archipelago as well as building an airport with a 3,500m airstrip and occupying a cluster of islands named An Vĩnh in the Archipelago.

“These activities not only go against the common understanding of the two countries’ high-level leaders, the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues, and adversely affect bilateral relations, but also seriously violates international law and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed in 2002 between ASEAN and China, and complicates the situation and escalates tensions in the East Sea,” Bình said.

“We hope China would make realistic contributions to the promotion of Việt Nam and China’s co-operation and relationships as well as maintain peace and stability in the East Sea,” he said.

Answering a question related to fishermen, particularly those in the central region, reporting on attacks by Chinese vessels, Bình stressed that Việt Nam demands China to immediately stop these inhuman actions, investigate and strictly punish the Chinese functional forces’ behaviors, compensate for losses of Vietnamese fishermen and prevent the repetition of similar actions.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) also provided information related to a request for assistance that was submitted to the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan by a number of Vietnamese workers living there, who reported harmful working and living conditions.

After receiving the request, the Labour Management Board of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan immediately contacted representatives of the company and requested a review of the use of workers and their accommodation fees, which were higher than they should have been.

The board also asked the company to work with the embassy to conduct inspections on labourers’ working conditions and hold talks with representatives of the workers regarding the parties’ benefits and rights in line with Japanese law.

If the Japanese employers do not accept the request, the embassy will ask local Japanese authorities to get involved, he said.

Regarding the information of three fishing boats with 42 Vietnamese fishermen on board being arrested by Malaysia, the spokesperson said that MoFA instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia to work closely with local authorities to verify the information and take actions to protect the legitimate rights of the fishermen. — VNS