The desire for peace is the reason for human existence.

Exactly 10 years ago, when attendingConference on the 50th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory and the Geneva ConferenceAt Peking University (China), during the closing session, I heard a Chinese scholar say: "In today's international relations, we cannot treat each other by force, because that is the way of behaving in barbaric times". The speaker was Professor Van Trang, a former member of the Chinese Advisory Group to Vietnam during the resistance war against French colonialism. He lived in Viet Bac for many years and wrote books about Uncle Ho with great respect. Co-chairing the closing session with him, I was very moved, because it was the voice of a peace-loving, compassionate, self-respecting personality with a strong humanistic cultural identity.

Early this May, I recalled the memory of ten years ago in Beijing, especially when I heard that China brazenly placed a deep-water drilling rig with many escort ships, including armed ships and support aircraft, in Vietnam's sovereign sea and island areas to explore and exploit oil and gas. At the same time, Chinese functional ships escorted by aircraft threatened Vietnamese coast guard ships on duty in its sovereign waters. Vietnam has sufficient legal and historical evidence to affirm that the Hoang Sa archipelago belongs to Vietnam. Vietnam has sufficient legal documents of national and international nature to prove that obvious fact.

For many years, China has been clinging to the baseless nine-dash line to make many arbitrary statements and actions, serving its own calculations. That has violated international law and practice. In today’s civilized era, such international behavior will be easily detected and shunned by human conscience and intelligence. That is the spirit of “self-law” of a country in the modern international relations environment.

That action also goes against the friendly policies advocated by China such as "Friendly neighbors, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability, towards the future" or "Lgood neighbor, good friend, good comrade, good partner”on the platformMountains and rivers are connected, ideals are shared, cultures are similar, and destinies are related..

So there is a gap between words and deeds. What a pity!

Vietnamese fishing boats carrying the national flag are ready to sail out to sea in Hoang Sa/Photo: VOV

As mentioned, in early May, China used dozens of ships of various types, including armed ships escorted by aircraft, to escort the Haiyang Shiyou-981 deep-water drilling rig illegally placed in Vietnam's waters (sea areas over which Vietnam has sovereignty in accordance with the 1982 UNCLOS Convention). Images of threatening aircraft and Chinese functional ships spraying water cannons and ramming and damaging Vietnamese police ships have appeared many times not only on Vietnamese television screens, but also on television in many countries. The terms: "China", "HD 981 drilling rig", "Vietnam", "UNCLOS 1982", "Sea areas with sovereign rights, jurisdiction, and exclusive economic zones", "water cannons", "ship ramming"; "peace negotiations", "press conferences"... are heard daily in the global media.

Yet, in a phone call with the Vietnamese Foreign Minister, the head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry brazenly “called on the Vietnamese side not to interfere with the activities of Chinese companies in the Xisha Islands” (i.e. Vietnam’s Hoang Sa Islands). The head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry also blatantly distorted that Vietnam “seriously violated China’s sovereignty by interfering with the normal activities of Chinese companies” in the Hoang Sa Islands and claimed that this is “part of Chinese territory and there is no dispute”.

Fishermen in the Central region still bravely stick to their traditional fishing grounds. Teams work together to fish in Vietnam's fishing grounds/Photo: VOV

The contrast between China's words and actions is causing the Vietnamese and Chinese people to doubt the feasibility and authenticity of the principles for building friendly relations between China and countries in the region and the world. Please listen to the opinion of scholar Ly Linh Hoa, former member of the China Ocean Information Center, who once affirmed that China has no basis to determine the "cow tongue line" as a national border. He stated on his personal blog (page163.comat 21:37 on May 6), that,lAs a signatory to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), China should comply with Articles 74 and 83 of the convention and respect the continental shelf and 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone claims of surrounding coastal countries.That is the perception of knowledgeable people, people with self-respect.

In recent days, Vietnamese public opinion, Chinese public opinion and the international community have strongly protested China's invasion of Vietnam's sovereignty. All demand that China immediately remove the Haiyang Shiyou-981 deep-water drilling rig and all vessels from Vietnam's sovereign waters and stop its illegal actions. This is a necessary action, respecting international law and in accordance with human conscience.

Vietnam Coast Guard always stands side by side with fishermen/Photo: VOV

The measure of civilized quality today is the voluntary compliance with international law and practices, and the self-respect to truly strive for cooperation, friendship and development. Based on international law, peaceful dialogue to resolve disputes and conflicts is a civilized way of behaving that humanity as well as any nation prioritizes.

On the basis of "interrelated, interrelated, similar, correlated", we all hope that China will sincerely join us in making the spirit of 16 words and the spirit of 4 goods become reality. That will not only create for the people of the two countries, but also contribute to creating for the people in the region and the world a civilized, equal, and mutually respectful international relations environment. The civilized era requires us to behave with each other in a civilized manner in the true sense of the word and we must together have the duty to enrich the civilized values ​​of humanity. China's brazen act of sending an oil rig to Vietnam's waters is not a civilized behavior, nor is it the quality of a gentleman.

Throughout the history of our country, the Vietnamese people have gone through 17 wars against invaders, so they know the value of peace. In this relationship, the desire for peace is the reason for the Vietnamese people to live and generations have spared no effort and even blood to preserve peace. Please do not act rashly to provoke hot conflicts and create an excuse to "use force to oppress others". That is a big mistake! This nation has the courage to use wisdom to share and dialogue in the spirit of humanity, humanism, and humanity. This nation has the courage to use wisdom to share and dialogue in the spirit of humanity, humanism, and humanity, and as an independent, sovereign nation, with the principle that our ancestors affirmed thousands of years ago: "The Southern Emperor resides in the mountains and rivers of the Southern Kingdom."And when the country was invaded, the whole nation united to"Fight to make history know that the Southern country has a hero".

Therefore, Vietnam resolutely demands that China immediately withdraw the drilling rig from Vietnam's sovereign waters, that China respect international law and respect the desire for peace of the two peoples as well as of humanity.