Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi

(VOVworld)-Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi has stressed Vietnam has indisputable sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos. The comment was made in response to a question from the media about Vietnam’s reaction to Chinese use of force against Vietnamese fishermen in Hoang Sa. On February 22, China used force to threaten 11 fishermen on a vessel from Quang Ngai province, preventing them from entering the Hoang Sa Archipelago to avoid strong winds. The Chinese side also beat the fishermen, searched and seized their property. Nghi said the above-mentioned action from China has seriously infringed upon the sovereignty right and jurisdiction right of Vietnam. He said it runs counter to the spirit of humanitarian treatment towards fishermen and gravely threatened the life and property of Vietnamese fishermen. The spokesman also said it did not correspond with the friendly relations between the two countries and went against the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC). Nghi said a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry has met with representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to oppose the Chinese act and ask China to refrain from future similar wrong doings and compensate the Vietnamese fishermen.