Remarks by Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi on May 10, 2012.

1. Question: Recently Taiwanese officials have been reported to visit Ba Binh island in Truong Sa archipelago and “claim sovereignty” over the island. Could you please give comment on this?

Answer:

Viet Nam objects Taiwanese officials going to Ba Binh island of Viet Nam’s Truong Sa archipelago and claiming sovereignty over the island. This action has violated Viet Nam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa archipelago, created tension and complicated the situation in the East Sea. Viet Nam demands Taiwan end this wrongful move.

2. Question: China is expanding oil and gas exploration activities, bringing gigantic oil rig 981 to operate in the East Sea. What is your comment on this?

Answer:

We are very much interested in this information and hold that activities in the East Sea by countries must abide by international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and must not infringe upon sovereignty, sovereign rights and national jurisdiction of other countries, contributing to peace and stability in the East Sea.

3. Question: Vietnamese press has reported that Google Maps published inaccurate information on Viet Nam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago. What’s your comment on this?

Answer:

Viet Nam affirms its indisputable sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. Information that failed to reflect this fact is wrongful and invalid. We are willing to share with publishers, printing houses accurate documents, maps, data on Viet Nam’s sovereignty in the East Sea.

Recently, Viet Nam’s Foreign Ministry met with Google representatives to express Viet Nam’s views on the case in which keywords search on Google Maps produced inaccurate information on Viet Nam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. Google has fixed this error.

Source: MOFA