Vietnamese citizens advised to stay away from protests in Hong Kong

Hanoi, October 3 (VNA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned Vietnamese citizens to avoid the protest areas in Hong Kong (China), Spokesperson Le Hai Binh said on October 2 in response to journalists’ queries. Reporters questioned Binh on Vietnam’s position on Hong Kong’s ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations. “This is an internal affair for China,” he stated. “Vietnam hopes the Government of Hong Kong finds suitable solutions to restore stability and ensure safety for Vietnamese citizens and enterprises as well as their property and legitimate rights,” Binh said. He added that the Foreign Ministry asked the Vietnamese Consulate General in Hong Kong to implement measures to guarantee the safety of the Vietnamese community. Regarding China’s plan to deploy a fish processing vessel to Vanh Khan (Mischief Reef), part of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, Binh said the Government of Vietnam was aware of the plan and was monitoring the situation carefully. “Vietnam has a legal basis and historical evidence proving its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa archipelagos. All actions undertaken by other parties without the permission of Vietnam are illegal and invalid,” the spokesperson stressed. Responding to questions whether the Government of Vietnam knew of China’s construction of a new island in Da Ga Ven and Da Lac (Gaven Reefs) in Truong Sa’s Nam Yet (Tizard Reef) on Vietnamese territory, Binh said Vietnamese agencies were verifying the information. He once again declared Vietnam’s indisputable sovereignty over the two archipelagos Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, affirming that all moves by external parties in those areas would violate the law and be considered invalid. With regard to the bodies of Vietnamese citizens onboard Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that crashed in Ukraine in July, Binh said the Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands reported that the Dutch side identified the victims. The two identified victims are Nguyen Ngoc Minh and Dang Minh Chau, whose relatives have been informed and are working with Dutch and Malaysian officials to finalise the funeral arrangements, he said. Vietnam asked the Netherlands to speed up its efforts to identify the remains of Dang Quoc Duy, the third Vietnamese victim onboard flight MH17.-VNA