THE ASSOCIATION OF VIETNAMESE STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS IN THE UNITED STATES

PETITION

Respectfully to: Mr. Barack Obama, President of the United States of America
Courtesy Copy: Mr. Joseph Biden, United States Vice President and President of the Senate;
Mr. John Boehner, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives;
Mr. John Kerry, United States Secretary of State; and Mr. Chuck Hagel, United States Secretary of Defense.

Re.:CHINA’S PLACEMENT OF OIL RIG HD-981 IN VIETNAM’S EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE

May 14, 2014

Dear Mr. President,

We, representatives of the Vietnamese students and professionals in the United States, would like to send our warmest greetings to you and your family.

As you know, over the years China has been using the unfounded nine-dashed line to claim ownership over the entire South China Sea, which we, Vietnamese, call the East Sea. This nine-dashed line, by all experts of the world, has absolutely no legal basis whatsoever. Nonetheless, China has been ignoring the international law and the world community and has been using that nine-dashed line to harass smaller countries in the region, especially the Philippines and Vietnam.

The current dangerous situation started on May 02, 2014, when China placed oil rig HD-981 in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone with a flotilla of 80 military ships to ships, attacking Vietnamese patrol vessels working in the area.

The entire Vietnamese population is greatly angry and distressed about this. The Vietnam government has used great restraint to avoid a war. But as you can imagine, the situation is so volatile that a small mistake by anyone may trigger a war. With this bullying behavior of China, someday war will break out between China with some country in the region.

The world needs peace in the East Sea, and the United States has great interest in freedom of navigation in the East Sea. We believe that peace will have a better chance to survive in the East Sea if the President of the United States weighs in the East Sea problem and requests that China stop its provocative and belligerent acts.

We, the Vietnamese students and young professional in the United States, would like to respectfully call on Mr. President to:

1. Express the United States government’s position more strongly in terms of opposing the provocative acts of China in the East Sea, and requesting China to comply with the international law in dispute resolutions in the East Sea, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the ASEAN Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea;

2. Request that the government of China immediately withdraw its oil rig HD-981 and other vessels out of the East Sea and use international law to resolve any dispute; and

3. Utilize the global power and moral authority of the United States to urge the relevant parties, international and regional institutions, especially the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to be more active in requesting China to stop all its belligerent and provocative acts.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your consideration. The world looks up to the United States for peace and prosperity. The youths of Vietnam, who account for more than half of our 94-million population, look up to the President of the United States to help keep world peace and Vietnam’s peace.

We pray for peace, freedom, and justice in the United States and all over the world. We wish you and your family good health and happiness.

Yours sincerely,

Huynh The Du
President
The Association of Vietnamese Students and Professionals in the United States
http://sinhvienusa.org, https://www.facebook.com/sinhvienusa, banbientap@sinhvienusa.org