Vietnam opposes China at UN conference over oil rig A Chinese ship equipped with high-powered water cannons to attack Vietnamese ships is seen near Beijing’s illicit oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters. Photo taken May 12, 2014. Tuoi Tre Vietnam on Friday opposed China for its unlawful placement of a drilling rig in the former’s waters in the East Vietnam Sea at the 24th meeting of States-Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) organized in the United States. Hanoi also called on the UNCLOS signatories to denounce Beijing’s unilateral acts that have led to tensions in the sea. In his speech at the plenary session of the conference on June 13, Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, highlighted the UNCLOS and considered the convention “a Constitution for the Oceans that embodies the tremendous efforts of the international community to establish an equitable international legal order for use, exploitation, management and sustainable development of the oceans and seas.” At the discussion session, the delegation of Vietnam once again confirmed its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and rejected all distorted viewpoints presented by Chinese delegates. Meanwhile, delegates from many countries, including Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia, voiced their concerns over the complex developments in the East Vietnam Sea, calling for relevant parties to exercise restraint, not to threaten or use force as well as to deal with disputes through peaceful measures in accordance with international law and the UNCLOS. They also asked the concerned parties to strictly abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea (DOC) and finalize the Code of Conduct of Parties in the sea as soon as possible.   The 24th meeting of States-Parties to the UNCLOS took place in the UN headquarters in New York from June 9 to 13 with the participation of 159 out of 166 members of the convention. The Vietnamese denouncement against China came in against the backdrop that Beijing has illegally positioned its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnam’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf since May 1. For three times, Vietnam has sent letters and diplomatic notes to Chinese authorities and the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon to protest China’s infringement of its sovereignty over the East Vietnam Sea. Hanoi has suggested that the UN chief keep the diplomatic note as an official document of the 68th UN General Assembly and send it to all member countries of the international organization.   Over the last one month and a half, China has deployed a huge number of vessels, including big iron-clad fishing boats, to guard the rig and attack Vietnamese vessels, including fishing boats.  China’s large iron-clad fishing boats have rammed a dozen Vietnamese fishing boats in the waters, injuring several fishermen, and damaging their vessels. Notably, on May 26, Chinese vessel #11209 slammed into and sank Vietnamese fishing boat DNa 90152 with ten crew members aboard. All the Vietnamese fishermen were rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat the same day. Tuoi Tre