Vietnam submits a proposal on the extended continental shelf boundary in the Central South China Sea.

The submission of the Extended Continental Shelf Boundary in the Central Area of the South China Sea will not affect the maritime delimitation between Vietnam and the relevant coastal states on the basis of UNCLOS.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation at the submission of the extended continental shelf boundary beyond 200 nautical miles in the Central South China Sea to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).

On July 17th (US East Coast time), at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang - Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations - along with a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Ambassador Trinh Duc Hai, Deputy Chairman of the National Border Committee, officially submitted the dossier on the extended continental shelf boundary of Vietnam beyond 200 nautical miles in the Central South China Sea to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).

On the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding Vietnam's submission of the aforementioned document.

The submission of the Extended Continental Shelf Delimitation beyond 200 nautical miles is to exercise the rights and obligations of a State Party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as stipulated in Article 76 of UNCLOS.

When a coastal state has a continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial sea, the coastal state must submit a submission containing relevant information and data to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf for consideration and recommendations on the boundaries of the extended continental shelf.

Vietnam's submission regarding the extended continental shelf boundary beyond 200 nautical miles in the Central South China Sea is its third submission. In May 2009, Vietnam submitted its own submission on the extended continental shelf boundary beyond 200 nautical miles in the Northern South China Sea and a joint submission with Malaysia on the extended continental shelf boundary beyond 200 nautical miles for the Southern South China Sea.

Vietnam has officially submitted its dossier on the boundaries of its extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Central South China Sea to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. (Photo: Thanh Tuan/VNA)

In its Note Verbale to the UN Secretary-General concerning the Submission of the Extended Continental Shelf Boundary Beyond 200 Nautical Miles in the Central Area of the South China Sea, Vietnam reiterated that this submission would not affect the maritime delimitation between Vietnam and the relevant coastal states on the basis of UNCLOS.

On this occasion, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang and the delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed their gratitude for the United Nations' support in Vietnam's submission of its submissions in accordance with the relevant provisions of UNCLOS and CLCS.

On the same day, the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations sent a Note Verbale to the UN Secretary-General to express Vietnam's position on the Philippines' submission of its Extended Continental Shelf Boundary Beyond 200 nautical miles in the South China Sea on June 14, 2024.