On March 14, at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , reporters asked questions about China's recent announcement of baselines in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Responding to this, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Vietnam and China are two countries bordering the Gulf of Tonkin. On December 25, 2000, the two countries signed the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Gulf of Tonkin, which took effect on June 30, 2004, to determine the boundaries of the territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves of each country in the Gulf of Tonkin.
"Vietnam believes that coastal states need to comply with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea when determining baselines used to measure the breadth of territorial waters, ensuring that they do not affect the legitimate rights and interests of other states, including freedom of navigation, the right to transit through straits used for international navigation, and in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," Ms. Pham Thu Hang affirmed.
According to the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam has and will continue to exchange views with China on this issue in the spirit of friendship, understanding and mutual respect. Vietnam requests that China respect and comply with the Agreement on the Delimitation of Territorial Seas, Exclusive Economic Zones and Continental Shelf between the two countries in the Gulf of Tonkin signed in 2000 between Vietnam and China, as well as UNCLOS.
Vietnam reserves its legal rights and interests in accordance with international law, as well as the views stated in the June 6, 1996 statement of the Vietnamese Government regarding the May 15, 1996 statement of the Chinese Government announcing the baselines used to calculate China's territorial waters, Ms. Pham Thu Hang added.
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