Self-respect is the core of international culture of behavior.

This action demonstrates contempt for international law and practice. Specifically: ignoring the United Nations Charter (of which China is a permanent member of the Security Council); considering the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as nothing (of which China is a member); lacking seriousness in implementing the DOC (of which China has committed to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). That is in terms of the world and the region.

In terms of bilateral relations, China has not respected the honor of the people of the two countries, the two Parties, the two States, and first of all the Chinese people (a nation with a long-standing culture). Because, the actions in the past few days are proof that China does not respect the friendly relationship in the spirit of 16 words and the spirit of 4 goods - which China is the subject that proposed to build that friendly spirit. In particular, China also does not respect its signature in the Declaration (November 10, 2011) on 6 guiding principles for resolving maritime issues, including the establishment of a government-level hotline for timely exchange and handling of information.

Invading Vietnam's territory with such calculated and threatening actions cannot win people's hearts today. Public opinion in the region and around the world has condemned this brazen and blatant act of disregarding the cultural qualities of international behavior in a civilized era. It is an act of aggression and is not beneficial to maintaining peace and stability in the region, but only escalates tensions in the East Sea. China's unjustified occupation of Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago since 1974 (when Vietnam focused on liberating the South) and now claiming that this area is within its exclusive economic zone is a "very vague argument". The nine-dash “cow tongue” line occupies 80% of the East Sea area and is drawn into the sovereign rights of several Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam. It has no legal basis, no historical basis (China has never clarified exactly what these lines mean), lacks self-respect and is not sincere in building an international cultural environment of behavior in today's civilized era.

World public opinion understands that China's expansionist intentions in a region with many countries weaker in economic and defense potential make China increasingly aggressive in a reckless manner and always create "fait accompli" incidents that complicate the situation in the East Sea and create a springboard for further encroachment (such as the occupation of Hoang Sa in 1974; Gac Ma Island in 1988) to single-handedly block, dominate, and control international ships passing through the East Sea, while there is no mechanism capable of preventing and resolving crises in this area.

The truth about China's aggression and violation of Vietnam's sovereignty over the sea and islands in the past few days has been very clear. However, on the afternoon of May 8, the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a press conference to justify the deployment of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. At the press conference, the representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed confidence that Vietnam and China would resolve the current issue through "dialogue" (!?). At the same time, the Chinese side blatantly slandered Vietnam. The representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spent a lot of time "reiterating" the stance on the so-called "sovereignty" in the East Sea. However, the issues that reporters were most interested in and asked the most questions about, the Chinese side could not answer, or answered unsatisfactorily. For example, they could not provide any images to prove their criticism of "Vietnamese ships harassing Chinese ships". Not only that, China also arrogantly demanded that Vietnam withdraw all fishing control and coast guard ships from the sea area...under Vietnam's sovereignty (?).

Despite being asked repeatedly by reporters, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the representative of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) could not explain why China had to dispatch more than 80 ships of various types to escort a drilling rig. When asked whether the Chinese ships spraying water cannons and ramming Vietnamese ships were acts of brutal bullying and how many ships, including naval ships, had been dispatched to the area of ​​the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig, the representative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeared confused and deliberately avoided answering.

Faced with the Chinese functional ships brutally spraying water cannons and ramming directly into Vietnamese coast guard ships, Vietnamese coast guard soldiers remained calm and restrained, not responding in kind immediately, not falling for the evil plot, because they were burning with the desire for peace and it was not the time to use similar measures to respond. However, restraint always has its limits!

In response to this aggression, Vietnam has demanded that China immediately withdraw its deep-water drilling rig and escort vessels from Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. But China still insists that the rig is operating in its waters. Vietnam has declared that it will do everything possible to protect its sovereignty, starting with peaceful dialogue and demanding that China act in the spirit of respecting international law, first of all the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and the DOC commitment.

However, at the press conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry presented a style of diplomacy that was ambiguous, confusing, lacking transparency and lacking respect for itself. That attitude did not convince public opinion, including that of the Chinese people.

Over the past years, the Vietnamese people, especially fishermen, have sadly witnessed the spirit of the 16 words and the spirit of the 4 goods being crushed in the waters under Vietnam's sovereignty. Arbitrarily and groundlessly setting fishing bans in the entire waters under Vietnam's sovereignty, chasing, arresting, beating Vietnamese fishermen, and seizing Vietnamese fishing boats to demand ransom are not "good neighbor"…China has blatantly cut Vietnam's oil and gas exploration cables several times, so how can there be anycomprehensive cooperation and good partnerAnd, this time through the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig violating Vietnam's maritime sovereignty, China only causedlong-term instabilityon the East Sea. Obviously no oneLooking to the futurelike that. On this earth, from ancient times to the present, there has never been such a thing.good friends, good comradeslike that

Therefore, Vietnamese public opinion also requires China to be aware.self-esteemin implementing commitments to build friendly relations with Vietnam through the spirit of 16 words and the spirit of 4 goods. That is the morality in international relations today, especially relationsfriendly neighborsin fact.

We firmly believe that not all Chinese people support the above mentioned way of handling international relations. Because China's way of handling foreign relations is going against the core values ​​of a gentleman. The core of a gentleman's values ​​isself-esteem,It is formed on the basis of the consciousness of "discipline" (behaving properly and kindly towards oneself first). A lack of self-respect will lead to deceit. Deception with others has its root in deceit with oneself. Self-respect has always been, and will always be, the core of a cultured person to build an international cultural environment in today's global integration trend.