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Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that China has seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty by installing military jamming equipment on outposts in Truong Sa, Spratly Islands off the South China Sea, commonly known as the East Sea in Vietnam.
Le Thi Thu Hang told the press that the establishment of China's electronic warfare equipment to cause radio jamming on Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross on Truong Sa goes against international conventions and Vietnam requested the northern neighbor to remove the system.
She also told the press that China has repeatedly acted counter to international rules with its recent activities in the East Sea, including the underwater construction of You Lian Tuo 9 vessel and a sailboat race in waters off Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands, which belong to Vietnam.
Such activities go against fundamental principles that Vietnam and China have agreed on, the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC), complicate the situation and do not benefit maintenance of peace, stability and cooperation in the sea.
Earlier on Tuesday, Vietnam’s agriculture ministry wrote to coastal cities and provinces, telling them to assure fishermen and asserting that a fishing ban issued by China last year “has no value.”
China’s Ministry of Agriculture in March last year released a ban on fishing in a number of areas from May 1 to August 16 this year, which include the Gulf of Tonkin near the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands in the East Sea.
Since then, Vietnam has condemned the ban, saying China’s move has seriously violated its maritime sovereignty over the Paracels.
Satellite imagery taken by commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe shows a suspected jammer system with its antenna extended on Mischief Reef in the South China Sea, Reuters cited the Wall Street Journal as saying.
Electronic warfare equipment
