Ngo Huu Phuoc: China’s behavior has violated the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the basic principles of international law on friendly relations between countries that are prescribed in the UN Charter and codified in the Declaration of the UN General Assembly, dated 24/10/1970.

Under the provisions of the UNCLOS, coastal states have the right to set an exclusive economic zone that shall not exceed 200 nautical miles from the baseline. In these waters, the coastal states have rights of economic sovereignty such as exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources and living creatures in the waters above, the seabed, and the marine subsoil.

At the same time, the coastal states have jurisdiction (allowing or not allowing, checking, monitoring, handling or judging) for the installation of artificial islands and works such as underground cables, underground pipelines, oil rigs, etc.; marine scientific research and the protection and preservation of the marine environment in their exclusive economic zone.

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