From Free Press Journal
Vietnam has warned that it has no option but to seek international arbitration over the South China Sea standoff with China if Beijing continued to push it to do so by their activities in the disputed Islands, agencies report.
This picture taken on June 2, 2014 shows the Vietnamese fishing boat ‘DNA 90152’ (L), which was reportedly sunk by a Chinese ship, at a shipyard in the central coastal city of Danang. Vietnam last week accused a Chinese ship of ramming and sinking one of its fishing boats — the first ship reported sunk since the dispute flared in early May after China deployed an oil rig in the disputed waters of the South China Sea off Vietnam’s central coast. (Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Vietnam’s Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that Vietnam was yet to decide when to seek international arbitration, but the decision hinged on China’s actions in the South China Sea. “They (China) have asked us several times not to bring the case to international court,” Vinh was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post on Monday.
“Our response was that it’s up to China’s activities and behaviour; if they continue to push us, we have no choice. The legal option is also in accordance with international law,” he said.
Vinh said despite Beijing repeatedly asking it to shun any such plans it will not give up its rights of sovereignty over the disputed islands.
Vinh’s remarks came after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his country had prepared evidence for a legal suit to challenge China’s claim in the waters off the Vietnamese coast and was considering the best time to file it.
Rejecting the claims of Vietnam and other maritime neighbour, China said it has indisputable sovereignty over the area for over 2000 years and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) cannot be applicable to it.
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