• Summary

This legal document contains the Statement on 12 November 1982 by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Territorial Sea Baseline of Viet Nam. This legislation was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in implementing the first paragraph of the 1977 Statement on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf. In this document, the baseline of Vietnam’s territorial sea is connected by straight lines connecting the basepoints, from point 0 as starting point to Con Co Island (middle region of Vietnam). The baseline from Con Co Island up north to the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf will be established following the settlement of the closing line of the Gulf.

Notably, the starting basepoint, point 0, is located “in the sea” on the line linking Tho Chu Archipelago with Poulo Wai Island, which is also “the meeting point of the two baselines for measuring the breadth of the territorial sea of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and that of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea” (PRK) agreed in 1979. However, there is no clarification of whether point 0 is a low-tide elevation with permanently-above sea level structure installation such as lighthouses or not. While point 0 can be categorized as a special case located in historical water as provided in Article 7.4 of the 1982 UNCLOS and the 1979 Bilateral Agreement mentioned above, its legal status shall be judged based on international recognition. Finally, Article 3 of the Statement claims that “the part of the gulf appertaining to Viet Nam constitutes the historic water. and is subjected to the juridical regime of internal waters”. Nonetheless, the Agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Delimitation of Gulf on Tonkin signed in 2000 implies that the delimited water belongs to the regime of territorial seas, exclusive economic zones, and continental shelves.

• Document: Statement of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 12 November 1982 by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Territorial Sea Baseline of Viet Nam (adopted from UN Treaty Series)