Vietnam protests China’s illegal business registrations on Paracel archipelago

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Satellite image of China's illegal constructions on Phu Lam (Woody) Island, part of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. Photo courtesy of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

All business registration behaviours relating to Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago hold no value, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted on October 15.

"Vietnam's consistent stance is to strongly protests the establishment of the so-called Sansha city in Phu Lam Island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and related activities as they seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press conference on the day.

Hang made the statement regarding reports that since 2012, China has registered over 400 companies in what it calls "Sansha city" on Phu Lam (Woody) Island , which is part of Vietnam’s Paracel archipelago.

Vietnamese foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang. Photo: VNA

The information was first announced last month on the official website of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) under the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

According to AMTI, publicly available corporate records indicate that as of June last year, about 446 private firms, state-owned enterprises, and small businesses had registered in the so-called “Sansha city”, with accumulative registered capital of 307 of these companies amounting to $1.2 billion.

The "administration" of the so-called “Sansha city” ran a campaign to "register in Sansha, pay taxes to Sansha, brand as Sansha, operate elsewhere," allowing companies to register in the city but operate outside its jurisdiction, AMTI added.

“Vietnam has firmly stated many times that it has full historical evidence and legal ground to attest to its sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa archipelagos,” the spokesperson said, underlining Vietnam’s consistent stance on protesting against the establishment of the so-called Sansha city and related activities.

Such activities are neither valid nor recognised, and at the same time they do not benefit the friendship between nations while causing more complications to the situation in the Bien Dong Sea (South China Sea), the region and the world at large, according to Hang./.

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