Vietnam has asked Taiwan to cancel live-fire drills on Ba Binh Island of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago in the East Sea.

Ba Binh (Itu Aba) Island in Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratlys) Archipelago. Photo: CSIS/AMTI

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that Taiwan’s military exercise in the waters around Ba Binh (Itu Aba) in the Spratlys infringes on Vietnam’s sovereignty.

Late last month, Taiwanese officials announced that they would stage live-ammunition drills with artillery in Taiping on March 23.

“The fact that Taiwan continues to hold live-fire drills in the waters around Ba Binh in Vietnam’s Truong Sa Islands is a serious violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty over these islands, threatening peace, maritime stability, safety and security, causing tension, and complicating the situation in the East Sea (referring to the South China Sea),” Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said Friday [March 11].

Hang affirmed that Vietnam has full legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over Truong Sa and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes in accordance with international law.

“Vietnam strongly protests the drills and demands Taiwan not to repeat those violations in the future,” she noted.

Taiwan has performed live-fire drills on Ba Binh Island annually in recent years.