Vietnam reaffirms vigilance on East Sea situation

"Vietnamese authorities always closely follow situations on the East Sea and resolutely perform management measures and legal conducts in accordance with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Vietnamese law," said deputy spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang, according to the ministry’s official website.

Vietnam calls the South China Sea the East Sea.

Hang’s comment came after reporters last week requested an official reaction to the news of the Chinese ship Haiyang Dizhi 4 Hao operating within Vietnam’s EEZ.

The survey vessel was built in 1980 and has a capacity of around 1,000 tons, according to vessel tracking website Marine Traffic.

In accordance with UNCLOS, coastal states have full rights of sovereignty over their EEZ and continental shelf for the purposes of exploration and natural resources exploitation. Other UNCLOS member states can only perform marine scientific research within these regions with the consent of relevant coastal states.