The traditional carp release ceremony, a ritual marking the transition from the old year to the new, is an important part of the Lunar New Year celebrations in Vietnam.

Vietnam continues to demonstrate its active participation in the pursuit of world peace by sending eight officers to peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The musical shows the moving picture of the marines, who always hold their rifles firmly, ready to fulfill the mission of protecting the sacred sea and the islands of the Motherland.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh has reiterated the Vietnamese Government’s readiness to launch necessary measures to protect fishermen’s normal activities in traditional fishing grounds at a regular Foreign Ministry press briefing in Hanoi on September 25.

As many as 1,200 Chinese fishing vessels illegally enter the territorial waters of Vietnam to harvest fish annually, a conference heard in Danang on September 19.

Viet Nam has sufficient legal foundations and historical evidence to assert its indisputable sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh on September 9 demanded that China immediately stop actions preventing Vietnamese fishermen operating in the East Sea.

Viet Nam will take all the proper and necessary measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests when it comes to the East Sea issue.

China`s tourism activities on the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago are a serious violation of Viet Nam`s sovereignty, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said today.

Viet Nam has appealed to countries within the region and beyond to join ASEAN`s efforts in promoting the common interests of peace, stability, and maritime security, safety, and freedom.

Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Le Hai Binh, said the China visit by Politburo member Le Hong Anh as Special Envoy of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, was fruitful in several ways.

Nearly 200 exhibits confirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes are on display at a month-long exhibition that opened in the Mekong delta city of Can Tho on August 26.

VietNamNet’s columnist Viet Lam talks with Prof. James Dale Bindenagel, former US Ambassador to Germany and now a thinker with the Boston Global Forum, and Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Deputy Director of the Institute for the East Sea Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about China’s rise and Vietnam’s choices. Below is the last part of the talk.

A textbook from 1853 contains a map demonstrating that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong to Viet Nam.

VietNamNet columnist Viet Lam spoke with Prof. James Dale Bindenagel, former US Ambassador to Germany, and now a thinker at the Boston Global Forum, and Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Deputy Director of the Institute for the East Sea Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about China’s rise and Vietnam’s choices. Below is the second part of the talk.

Vietnam vehemently opposes China’s inhuman actions against Vietnamese fishing vessels operating legally in Vietnam’s waters.

Vietnam supports every effort of the Iraqi government and the international community to stabilize the situation in Iraq, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh.

The Chinese are using "the trick of puns" to "trap" Vietnam by saying that their operations in Hoang Sa Archipelago (Paracel Islands) took place within the territorial waters and the contiguous zone of this archipelago, Dr. Tran Cong Truc, former head of the National Border Committee, said in an interview with Dan Tri online.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh has slammed China’s recent decision to publish a book on its unjustifiable ‘nine-dotted line’ claim in the East Sea, declaring it illegal and null and void.

VietNamNet’s columnist Viet Lam talks with Prof. James Dale Bindenagel, former US Ambassador to Germany and now with the US-based Boston Global Forum, and Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Deputy Director of the Institute for the East Sea Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about China’s rise and Vietnam’s choices. Below is the full content of the talk.

Vietnam is facing major responsibility that history has entrusted: It is to use international law to maintain peace in a vital area of the world.

In a Joint Communiqué released in Myanmar on August 10, ASEAN Foreign Ministers expressed serious concern over recent tensions in the East Sea and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, maritime security as well as freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the sea.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has expressed deep concern about recent East Sea tensions, especially Chinese placement of its oil platform Haiyang Shiyou-981 in Vietnam’s waters, and said more efforts are needed to prevent similar actions in the future.