Professor Kolotov in a meeting with Vietnamese delegates at the Ho Chi Minh Institute of the Saint Petersburg University

(VOVworld)- Professor Vladimir Kolotov, an expert on Vietnam studies, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Institute of the Saint Petersburg National University has said China’s illegal placement of its oil rig in Vietnam’s waters violated international law. In an interview with a VOV correspondent, the Professor said that China’s acts reflected its long term strategy to get control of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos and the East Sea as a whole. Professor Vladimir Kolotov said:“China and Vietnam need to base on good experiences in history to overcome current challenges. Influential strategists would have to decide what need to be done to ensure security in the region and the safety of the regime in each nation”.

In regard to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s response to AP and Reuters that Vietnam would not exchange independence and sovereignty for quixotic peace and friendship, Professor Kolotov said that PM Dung’s statement reflects Vietnamese tradition and none of Vietnamese leaders would agree with China’s demands in the East Sea: “President Ho Chi Minh said nothing is more precious than independence and freedom. After the Dien Bien Phu victory, General Vo Nguyen Giap said: “You lost because you didn’t understand Vietnamese history”. Vietnam had to pay a lot to gain independence, sovereignty and freedom, so independence, sovereignty and freedom are not for exchange. And this is the prestige that Vietnam has gained over its thousands years old history and it was clearly demonstrated in the 20^th century”.

In regard to an article on Ria Novosti, Professor Kolotov said that Ria Novosti is a famous and prestigious news agency in Russia and that he felt sorry for wrong information on the newspaper. He said it was only Mr. Kosyrev’s personal opinion but not Russia’s official viewpoint. Mr. Kosyrev was an expert on Oriental studies and Chinese history and he might have used China’s unreliable documents, therefore, there was some incorrect information about Vietnam.