19 January 2009

San Francisco - On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Paracels Islands being seized from Vietnam in January 19, 1974, VietWill will join demonstrations planned in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on both January 19 and 20 in order to protest China's seizing and continued occupation of the islands. 

In the decades of this illegal occupation, China has built infrastructure on the Paracel Islands such as military base and airport. Beijing has also actively encouraged and organized tourism to the islands in an attempt to legitimize its claims.

China claims that it has historical and jurisprudence evidence to prove that the Paracel Islands rightfully belong to China. Nonetheless, in the past China has always rejected suggestions to take the matter to third party arbitration. Beijing rather opts for bilateral negotiation with Vietnam in which it clearly has the upperhand at the negotiation table.

Unlike the Spratly Islands which are claimed by six different countries, the Paracel Islands are disputed only by China and Vietnam. There is no sign that China will willingly give up control of the Paracel Islands in the future. On the other hand, Beijing is building a massive nuclear submarine base in Hainan Island in order to protect and further take control of the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, as well as much of the water in the South China Sea.

VietWill, which is actively campaigning to provide information on the threat posed by China's actions in the South China Sea, has joined or organized several demonstrations in the past year to protest China since this country began to be increasingly aggressive in trying to achieve its ambitions for military domination in Asia, especially in the South China Sea.

For immediate release
4 December 2008

In the wake of recent acts of aggression carried out by China in the South China Sea, adding to a long list of acts of aggression by this country over the last 40 years, VietWill will join the demonstration at the Chinese consulate on 5 December 2008 in San Francisco. Expected at the demonstsration will be members of the overseas Vietnamese community who will call on China to cease its control over the Paracel Islands which it seized from Vietnam in 1974 and to give up its claims on the Spratly Islands, part of which it seized from Vietnam in 1988.

In being present at the demonstration, VietWill's primary agenda is to call on China to stop claiming over 3/4th of the South China Sea as its historic sea as well as stop making illegal claims of the two archipelagos. Moreover, VietWill wants to call for international attention to China's behavior of interfering with sovereignty of other countries, such as the recent pressure by China to force ExxonMobil to cease its oil exploration contract with Vietnam while announcing a 29 billion budget of its own for oil exploration in the South China Sea. Finally, VietWill plans to voice a message of unity to other Southeast Asian countries both involved and not involved in the dispute to form a united stance in order to counteract China's aggressive claims and actions in the region.

Demonstration information

Location:   Chinese Consulate
                 1450 Laguna Street
                  San Francisco
Day:          Friday, December 5th, 2008
Time:        12:00pm - 1:00pm

Please join us and fight in this important issue.  We will be wearing our brown t-shirt with the image of the legendary bronze drum, which is the pride of Vietnamese ancestors.