The legislature of Khanh Hoa Province is set to pass a resolution asserting Vietnam’s claim over the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the East Sea at its session Wednesday.
The chairman of the people’s council, Mai Truc, said the resolution would also object to the Chinese parliament’s recent ratification of a plan to create a symbolic administrative region called Sansha to manage three archipelagos, two of them belonging to Vietnam, Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa.
Truong Sa District belongs to Khanh Hoa Province and comprises Truong Sa Town and the two communes of Song Tu Tay and Sinh Ton.
The people’s council of neighboring Da Nang City issued a resolution affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa during a sitting earlier this month.
The resolution said Hoang Sa was a district belonging to Da Nang.
Reported by Xuan Hoa
Provincial house confirms sovereignty over East Sea islands
Vietnamese rally again over islands disputed with China
Dec 15, 2007
HANOI (AFP) — Anti-China protesters Sunday rallied in Vietnam over disputed islands but were kept away by police from Bejing's diplomatic missions after a protest last week sparked a rebuke from China.
Several hundred demonstrators in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City marched in the long-simmering dispute over the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos in the South China Sea, which are claimed by China, Vietnam and other regional countries.
Police prevented about 300 demonstrators in the capital and around 100 in the southern port city formerly called Saigon from protesting outside the embassy and consulate of Vietnam's northern neighbour and communist ally.
Similar noisy but peaceful rallies on December 9, which supported Vietnam's official territorial claims, were tolerated by police for about one hour, triggering a diplomatic protest from Beijing two days later.
"We are highly concerned over the matter," said China's foreign ministry after the first protest.
"We hope the Vietnamese government will take a responsible attitude and effective measures to stop this and prevent bilateral ties from being hurt."
In the latest rally, groups of demonstrators marched through Hanoi, waving flags, shouting anti-China slogans and singing patriotic songs.
Most of the protesters wore identical T-shirts with the red-and-gold Vietnamese flag, a map of Vietnam that included the islands, and the words "China hegemony jeopardises Asia" and "Beware of the invasion."
In Ho Chi Minh City around 100 demonstrators were rallying at a park near the Chinese consulate, holding up signs that read "Hands off Vietnam," "Vietnam: United We Stand" and "Stop Chinese Expansion."
The two archipelagos -- called Truong Sa (Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) in Vietnamese --- are considered strategic outposts in the South China Sea, have potential oil and gas reserves and rich fishing grounds.
The Spratlys, more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls, are claimed in full or part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
The Paracels -- which Chinese troops took from South Vietnamese forces in 1974 -- are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The disputes stir strong passions in Vietnam, which remembers a millennium of Chinese rule and fought its last border war with China in 1979. A naval clash in 1998 near one of the Spratlys killed more than 50 Vietnamese sailors. The street protests started on December 9 after China set up a county-level government unit which covers 2.6 million square kilometres (1 million square miles), mostly ocean, including the disputed isles.
The issue has been hotly debated on blogs in Vietnam, and Vietnamese hackers have defaced at least one Chinese government website.
The islands have been flashpoints for years, and the number of disputes has risen as declining fish stocks have forced fishing crews from Vietnam and elsewhere to sail deeper into disputed waters.
In July a Chinese naval vessel fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Spratlys, sinking the boat and killing one sailor, reports said.
Vietnam expert Carl Thayer said China was pursuing "a policy of creeping assertiveness" in the region, which conflicts with Vietnam's maritime strategy of maximising the development of its offshore resources by 2020.
"Chinese naval vessels have reportedly fired on Vietnamese fishing boats," said Thayer, of the Australian Defence Force Academy.
Beijing had also pressured oil company British Petroleum to stop developing an area off southern Vietnam, he said.
"China has the upper hand because it can threaten the interests of foreign companies who operate in both China and Vietnam," he told AFP.
Thayer, a veteran Vietnam watcher, said public rallies in Vietnam critical of China are "unprecedented and may represent the first step in a prolonged information campaign to win over international sympathy and support."
China displays arrogance
China invades Vietnamese islands, occupies them, hunts down Vietnamese fishermen in the sea surrounding the islands, establishes an administrative city on the islands, and then becomes "concerned" about Vietnamese-Chinese friendly relationship being affected by the people who protest its aggression as indicated in this news article below:
China chides Vietnam over island dispute
Tue Dec 11, 2007
BEIJING (Reuters) - China chided its neighbour Vietnam on Tuesday, saying the Southeast Asian country was straining ties by asserting claims to a chain of islands that may be rich in oil.
Vietnamese protested in front of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi and the consulate in Ho Chi Minh city over the weekend, proclaiming that the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands belonged to their country.
The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said the protests were spontaneous and quickly ended by officials, the Vietnam News Agency reported. But China's Foreign Ministry responded with a warning that the quarrel could harm ties.
"China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference. He said China and Vietnam had previously agreed to settle the dispute through negotiations.
"Recently in Vietnam there have been developments unfavourable to friendly ties between China and Vietnam, and we are highly concerned."
Qin said Hanoi had to take steps to "prevent further developments and avoid harming bilateral relations".
Territorial disputes between the two Communist neighbours have a history of turning ugly.
The Spratly Islands, a string of rocky outcrops in the South China Sea suspected of spanning large oil and gas deposits, are also claimed by Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.
China seized the Paracel Islands, a set of islets just north of the Spratly group, in 1974 and has occupied them since despite Vietnamese protests lop the area.
Vietnam has long been wary of its bigger Asian neighbour and in 1979 the two countries fought a border war.
In 1988, China and Vietnam fought a brief naval battle near one of the Spratly Island reefs. But the two Communist neighbours normalised relations in 1991 and tensions have eased considerably in recent years.
Vietnamese rally outside China embassy over disputed islands
Dec 8, 2007
HANOI (AFP) — Several hundred Vietnamese protesters staged a rare demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi on Sunday to defend the national claim of sovereignty over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands.
Waving the red-and-gold Vietnamese flag, raising their fists and shouting "Defend the homeland" and "Down with China," about 250 people rallied for one hour as police stood by before the protest was peacefully dispersed.
"We love our country. We protest the occupation of Truong Sa (Spratlys) and Hoang Sa (Paracels)," shouted the protesters, mostly students, who had gathered in Lenin Park across from the gated diplomatic mission.
The two archipelagos, considered strategic outposts in the South China Sea, have potential oil and gas reserves and rich fishing grounds.
The Spratlys are claimed in full or part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. All claimants except Brunei have troops based on the archipelago of more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls.
The Paracels -- which Chinese troops took from South Vietnamese forces in 1974 -- are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The protest came after China last month set up the county-level Sansha administrative unit on Hainan island, which covers 2.6 million square kilometres (1 million square miles), mostly ocean, including the disputed isles.
The disputes stir strong passions in Vietnam, which remembers a millennium of Chinese rule and fought its last border war with China in 1979.
The two countries fought a brief naval battle in 1988 near one of the Spratly Island reefs, in which more than 50 Vietnamese sailors died.
The two communist-ruled countries normalised relations in 1991.
The issue has been hotly debated on blogs in Vietnam, and Vietnamese hackers at the weekend also defaced at least one Chinese government website with obscenities and a call to "stop invading" the islands.
"We need to do something with a long-term vision to settle this problem," said one protester, Hanoi engineering student Nguyen Duc Toan. "China is acting aggressively. We have a long history in Hoang Sa and Truong Sa."
The rally, which supported Vietnam's official stance, was tolerated by police, and local and foreign media were allowed to attend -- a rarity in Vietnam, where public protests are usually suppressed quickly.
Vietnam's foreign ministry earlier this month reiterated that it has "adequate historical evidence and sufficient legal basis to proclaim its sovereignty over both the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos."
"Vietnam has a consistent policy of resolving sea-related disputes through peaceful negotiations and in accordance with international laws and practices," foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said.
The islands have been flashpoints for years, and the number of disputes has risen as declining fish stocks in the South China Sea have forced fishing crews from Vietnam and elsewhere to sail deeper into disputed waters.
In July a Chinese naval vessel fired at a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Spratlys, sinking the boat and killing one sailor, reports said.