On March 14, 2024, at the Regular Press Conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, responding to a reporter’s query on Viet Nam’s reaction to China’s announcement of the baseline in the Gulf of Tonkin as follows:

“Viet Nam and China are the sole states bordering the Gulf of Tonkin. The two States signed the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Tonkin on 25 December 2000, which entered into force since 30 June 2004.

Viet Nam is of the view that the coastal States are obligated to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982 (UNCLOS) in establishing their baselines for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea, and ensure that those baselines do not affect the legitimate rights and interests of other States, including the freedom of navigation and the transit of passage through straits used for international navigation in accordance with the UNCLOS.

Viet Nam has exchanged views with China on this issue, and will continue to do so in the spirit of friendship, understanding and mutual respect. Viet Nam calls on China to respect and comply with the 2000 Agreement on the Delimitation of the Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf between the two countries in the Gulf of Tonkin, and the UNCLOS. Viet Nam reserves all rights and legal interests under international law and reiterates its position expressed in the Statement dated 6 June 1996 of the Government of Viet Nam regarding the Declaration dated 15 May 1996 of the Chinese Government on the baselines for measuring the breadth of China’s territorial sea.”