HANOI: Vietnam is determined to protect the “incontestable” sovereignty of two South China Sea archipelagos, the prime minister said in a report on Thursday, intensifying a war of words with China.

Beijing earlier accused the Philippines of harming its sovereignty by making “irresponsible statements” about Manila’s claims to parts of disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi are at their highest in years owing to long-standing territorial disputes over the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.

The situation escalated in late May after Vietnam accused China of violating its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) stretching to 200 nautical miles.

Hanoi said that three Chinese marine surveillance vessels severed the exploration cables of a Vietnamese oil survey ship, violating the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The public comments by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, communist Vietnam’s most powerful figure, are his first on the incident and indicate the seriousness with which the government views it.

“We continue to affirm strongly and to manifest the strongest determination of all the [communist] party, of all the people and of all the Army in protecting Vietnamese sovereignty in maritime zones and islands of the country,” Dung said, in comments reported by the Thanh Nien daily.

He also reaffirmed “the incontestable maritime sovereignty of Vietnam toward the two archipelagos, the Paracels and Spratlys.”

After the late-May incident, China said that Vietnamese vessels were operating “illegally” and urged the country to “refrain from creating trouble.”

Beijing added that it was committed to peace in the South China Sea, but its more assertive maritime posture has caused concern among regional nations.

Tensions have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratlys, where Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also say they have a stake.

At a regional security summit last weekend in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned clashes may erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle disputes peacefully.

Hundreds of people held a peaceful anti-China protest outside Beijing’s embassy in Hanoi on Sunday, the largest action of its kind since 2007.

Protests are rare in authoritarian Vietnam.


Firm position
But In Manila, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao also on Thursday insisted on their sovereignty over the whole South China Sea, slamming down reported Chinese intrusions in the area as mere “bad rumors.”

During a press roundtable at his residence in Makati City (Metro Manila), the Chinese ambassador asserted Beijing’s claim to the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters.

He denied allegations on about five to six Chinese military vessels figuring in confrontations with other claimant-countries in the contested waters, saying that the Chinese government has every right to explore the waters, which they consider under their jurisdiction.

“Before a comprehensive agreement, we have every right to exercise jurisdiction over areas we are claiming sovereignty,” Liu told reporters.

He said that Beijing is open to joint development activities in the disputed Spratly Islands, which are believed to be rich in oil and mineral reserves, but maintained that all claimant-countries to the islands must secure China’s nod before exploring the area.

The Spratly Islands are being claim in whole or in part by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

“They [claimant-countries] can claim, but it is up to China to accept it or not,” Liu said.

“We [China] are calling on all countries to stop searching for possibility of exploiting resources of the area, which China has claims. China will not accept any country taking unilateral action for its [own] gain,” he added.

The Philippines has filed a complaint before the United Nations, and joined Vietnam in confronting China’s Defense Minister Liang Guanglie about the Asian superpower’s recent activities in the disputed areas during the meeting of Asian defense ministers in Singapore last week.

Shortly after the incident in May, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also filed protests and summoned the Chinese Embassy’s charge d’affaires over reported “increasing” Chinese military intrusions in the Philippine-claimed areas of the Spratlys.

Liu was out of the country when the protest was filed.

Reports indicated that there had been five to six Chinese intrusions in the disputed waters since February this year.

These incidents included the alleged firing on Filipino fisherman by a Chinese naval ship.

There have also been alleged “bullying” of Filipino fishermen by Chinese military vessels at the Reed and Amy Douglas Bank—both within the 200 nautical miles of the Philippines’ EEZ.

Liu admitted Chinese presence in the contested region, which he claims to be Chinese territory, but denied they were conducting military activities there.

He also dismissed claims made by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario that Beijing has violated provisions of a non-binding document signed by China and member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to reduce political tension in the disputed areas.

Asean groups the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Liu said that China has been calling on all concerned parties to “shelve the differences” and continue consultations on possible joint projects in the Spratlys. WITH REPORT FROM CRIS G. ODRONIA