LETTER OF PROPOSAL

July 8, 2024

For Culture – Education – Society

Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation
P.O. Box 22254, San Jose, CA 95121 U.S.A

California, July 8, 2024

LETTER OF PROPOSAL

Change the name “South China Sea” into “Southeast Asian Sea”

To: The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Southeast Asian nations and the National Leaders of the world.

Respectfully submitted by: Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On the occasion of the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) to be held in Vientiane Laos on July 21-27 this year, with some related meetings to propose the Code of Conduct (COC) for the “South China Sea,” we respectfully submit the following White Paper: In 2002, the Governments of the Member States of ASEAN and the Government of the People’s Republic of China signed the Declaration on The Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in the need to promote a peaceful, friendly, and harmonious environment in the “South China Sea”.

This Southeast Asian Code of Conduct (COC) consisted of a set of rules reflecting international norms and principles, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), with an aim to achieve stability in the disputed waterway in the “South China Sea”. In the twenty-two years that have passed since the signing of this instrument, we are moved to ask how effectively the standards of this Code have been enforced.

In July 2011, the 12th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea was held in Bali, Indonesia and what were the results? In 2013, the Chinese Communist Government filled in and renovated illegal military bases in the Spratly Islands in the East Sea! What did the Southeast Asian countries do then?

Then in 2014, the Chinese Communist Government brought the Hai Yang Shi You oil rig 981 into Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, to illegally exploit and explore oil and gas.

So, what did Vietnam do?

Since June 2015, the Chinese Communist government has used naval assets, disguised as armed “maritime militia”; fishing vessels, to trespass and to fish in Malaysian waters and at Natuna Island of Indonesia. It was the Indonesian president Widodo who personally commanded his navy to directly expel all the communist Chinese ships from Indonesian territorial waters.

With its greedy nature and military power, the Chinese Communist Government has chased away fishing boats in the Gulf of Thailand.

Since the summer of 2016, camouflaged ships of the Chinese Navy have violated the Philippines’ territorial waters, attacking and besieging the seafood harvesting at the Philippine’s Scarborough Shoal. They anchored hundreds of boats at the Philippines’ Second Thomas Shoal.

Recently on June 15, 2024, the Chinese Communist Government arbitrarily announced that all ships entering the “South China Sea” (Vietnam’s East Sea) will be arrested and detained for about sixty days.

So, where are China’s territorial waters? When they are seizing Vietnam’s East Sea! Most recently, on June 19, 2024, the communist Chinese Navy attacked a Philippines naval ship, injuring, capturing people, confiscating weapons and equipment on this ship in the territorial waters of Philippines.

During the annual fishing season, the Chinese Communist Government has unilaterally banned fishing from March to August.

In view of these repeated violations in the last two decades, how can we trust in the consensus agreement in the DOC and COC signed with China?

For eighteen years, the Chinese Communist Government’s vessels have besieged, rammed and destroyed many fishing boats. They have shot and killed Vietnamese fishermen, demanding ransom, while these fishermen were working in the fishing industry that has been Vietnam’s long-standing tradition and sovereignty.

Again, how can we trust in the “peace declarations” of the Chinese Communist Government? The Chinese Communist Government’s participation in the meeting and declaration of its peaceful role are just like decorated folding screens covering up the malevolent expansion and hegemonic aspirations of this large country. They talk about the practice of peace, but they have acted as criminals against the international law.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In 2013, the Philippines President Aquino II declared “Hopefully we will not call it the South China Sea, because this is not just their sea”. Also in 2013, the Philippines government sued the Chinese Communist Government before the International Court of Arbitration over their maritime sovereignty.

On July 12, 2016, the International Court of The Hague in the Netherlands issued a ruling rejecting all China’s claims of sovereignty over the “South China Sea”. The Court rejected China’s illegal claim of the nine-dash line covering this entire “South China Sea”. China absolutely has no sovereignty over the rocky islands in Vietnam’s East Sea.

But what did we see?

As a member of the United Nations’ Security Council, the Chinese Communist government treated the International Court’s ruling as a piece of waste paper, and simply ignored it. Is it not true that China has acted in a lawless fashion?

So, can we trust China’s commitments when it comes to the COC code of conduct?

It is an omission and mistake of the Southeast Asian countries and also an unexpected success for the Chinese Communist Government, that in the 2002 conference, China was included in the COC, even though China had no geopolitical position in the Southeast Asian waters. The Chinese communist government relies on its military power, its economic wealth and the opening of “One Belt, One Road” at sea to bribe and to threaten smaller nations. They set up the debt traps, aiming to disassociate ASEAN into individual countries for bilateral dialogues, easy manipulation, and intimidation.

Looking back upon the 8th 2002 Conference to present, it is clear that there has never been a united coalition of Southeast Asian nations. With nearly fifty Southeast Asian Conferences to discuss the DOC in the last twenty-two years, have we ever reached a justified solution with a respected Code of Conduct for the nations involved?

With the lawless behavior of the Chinese Communist Government, how long will these concessions last, for the Southeast Asian nations?

What is the future of the “South China Sea” for all Nations in Southeast Asia?

Going back further in history, we see the 1884 Protectorate Treaty signed between the French government and the Qing Dynasty of China, which clearly stipulated that: “The border line of Chinese territory is the south end of Hainan Island.” Currently there are solid historical maps of this region preserved by the world.

Based on the territorial waters of nations (including China), the Scarborough Shoal and the Second Thomas Shoal of the Philippines are only 360 nautical miles from the Philippines’ Paraguay island. Meanwhile, there are 1,111 nautical miles between them and China’s Hainan Island.

Yet China reached out to the Southeast Sea, to take over the Philippines’ territorial waters. Likewise, Malaysian waters are 2,500 nautical miles from China’s Hainan Island, but the Chinese Communist Government has claimed it as their own. Vietnam and Indonesia are victims of the communist China’s invasion; the “nine dash line” drawn by China accounts for almost 90% of Vietnam’s East Sea.

The US government has publicly stated that the “nine dash line” which China and Taiwan assert delineates their claims to the South China Sea is contradicted by international law. So does any nation want to speak up, to claim her national sovereignty over territorial waters or territory before the ASEAN conference, accordingly with the DOC or COC? We solemnly propose a solution to solve this problem, in the face of China a communist nation which does not comply with the international maritime law that we all know: the Law of the Sea, the laws used to govern international waters.

As Southeast Asian countries, let’s unite for our own national interests, to deal with an aggressive Chinese Communist Government.

Ultimate Solution for Southeast Asia

The so-called “South China Sea” embraces many Southeast Asian countries representing more than 660 million people. With a total length of 130,000 km, the United Nations has officially recognized this region and named it Southeast Asia.

At the 18th ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali, Indonesia on July 2011, the Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation proposed a solution to this Conference: Change the name “South China Sea” into “Southeast Asian Sea” instead.

This proposal has been approved by the American Geographic Society and Google, with over 95,000 signatures from people who agreed! This should be a solution that will contribute to peace and stability in this Southeast Asian area of Vietnam’s East Sea. This ultimate solution would legitimately protect the interests of many Southeast Asian Nations.

We at the Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation once again reiterate this ultimate solution: “Change the Name of the Sea” for the upcoming 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on July 21—July 27 to be held in Vientiane, Laos. From now on, remove the name “South China Sea” from legal documents and maps and replace it with the new name “Southeast Asia Sea”.

We have great hope that you all will put this proposal into reality.

Best regards,

Tran, Nguyen Dinh
President, Nguyen Thai Hoc Foundation
Web site: www.nguyenthaihocfoundations.org
Email: nthf@nguyenthaihocfoundations.org
Contact: (408) 766-1829

NTHF especially thanks Professor Eric Cunningham, Gonzaga University