On November 27, Hainan province of China adopted the revised border security regulations for its coastal regions, covering Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes of Vietnamese sovereignty.  Earlier on November 23, China published a map of the so-called “Sansha” city that included the two archipelagoes, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Vietnam .

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi

At 04:05 on November 30 as the ship Binh Minh 02 of Vietnam was carrying out a seismic survey in the country’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf (43 nautical miles southeast of Vietnam’s Con Co island at a latitude of 17.26 degrees north and longitude of 108.02 degrees east), two Chinese ships numbered 16025 and 16028 intentionally blocked and severed the cable of the Vietnamese ship despite warning signals from Vietnam’s authorised forces. Answering a reporter’s question on Vietnam’s response to these actions in Hanoi on December 4, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi stated: “The actions seriously violated Vietnam ’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes as well as the country’s sovereign right and jurisdiction over its waters.”  They violated the basic principles of the agreement that guides the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China signed in October 2011, he said. They also ran counter to the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the Declaration of the 15 th ASEAN-China Summit on the 10th anniversary of DOC, complicating the East Sea situation, the spokesman added. On December 3, representatives from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry met with Chinese Embassy representatives in Hanoi to deliver a diplomatic note resolutely protesting against China ’s actions. It asked China to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty and immediately terminate the wrongful acts and not let such similar ones be repeated.