(Vietnamese version) Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf between the P.R of China and Vietnam on 25 December 2000

  • Summary

This legal document contains the Vietnamese version of the Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, signed on 25 December 2000.

The summary article for this document can be found at that of its English version. 

by jordani

(Unofficial English translation) Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf between P.R of China and Vietnam on 25 December 2000

The document attached to this article is an unofficial English translation of the Agreement, which was originally provided in 2 official versions of Chinese and Vietnamese only. The contents and wordings of this English version were checked vis a vis the official Vietnamese version by the editor who is capable of both English and Vietnamese. 
  • Summary

This legal document contains the English version of the Agreement on Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, signed on 25 December 2000. Article 3 of this Agreement defines a Common Fishery Zone, which extends 30.5 nautical miles into the exclusive economic zones of the two countries from the demarcation line determined in the Delimitation Agreement on Tonkin Gulf, southerly to the closing line of the Tonkin Gulf, and northerly to the 20" N Latitude. The coordinates of points constituting the Common Fishery Zone are specified in Article 3 of the Agreement. Article 13 makes provision for the establishment of the Sino-Vietnamese Joint Committee for Fishery in the Tonkin Gulf in order to implement the Agreement, which shall consist of two representatives respectively appointed by both Governments and several committee members. The rights and responsibilities of both contracting parties and their vessels for the purpose of fishing are stated in the Agreement, which shall be monitored by respective Governments and the Joint Committee. Article 12 also provides a buffer zone starting from the Beilun estuary (point 1 of Sino-Vietnamese delimitation line in the Delimitation Agreement on Tonkin Gulf), whose coordinates are specified in Article 12.

 

Finally, Article 22.2 clarifies that this Agreement shall enter into force after both parties carried out necessary domestic legal procedures, become valid for a period of 12 years, and extend for another 3 years afterward automatically. The extension of the Agreement after that fifteen-year period shall be negotiated by both Parties. However, after the Agreement entered into force on 30 June 2004-2019, the two countries only extended it for one year until 30 June 2020. After its expiration in 2020, there has been no announcement of new negotiation for the extension of the Agreement.

by cm08

(Vietnamese version) Agreement between the Thailand and Vietnam on the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary in the Gulf of Thailand on 9 August 1997

  • Summary

This legal document contains the Vietnamese version of the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between the two Countries in the Gulf of Thailand signed on 9 August 1997.

The summary article for this document can be found at that of its English version.

by jordani

(English version) Agreement between Thailand and Vietnam on the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between the two Countries in the Gulf of Thailand on 9 August 1997

  • Summary

This legal document contains the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between the two countries in the Gulf of Thailand on 9 August 1997. This maritime boundary constitutes the boundary for the continental shelves and exclusive economic zone of both contracting parties, which is a line connected by two points C and K. The coordinates of points C and K are stated in the Agreement.

Notably, point C is the northernmost point of the Joint Development Area established by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Kingdom of Thailand and Malaysia on the Establishment of a Joint Authority for the
Exploitation of the Resources of the Seabed in a Defined Area of the Continental Shelf of the Two Countries in the
The Gulf of Thailand. Therefore, Article 2 clarifies that Vietnam and Thailand shall negotiate with Malaysia to settle the tripartite overlapping continental shelf.

by cm08

(Vietnamese version) Agreement on the Historical Waters between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the People's Republic of Kampuchea

  • Summary

This legal document contains the Vietnamese version of the Agreement on the Historical Waters between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the People's Republic of Kampuchea signed on 2/18/1979

The summary article of the Agreement can be found in that of its English version.

by jordani

(Unofficial English translation) Agreement on the Historical Waters between the People's Republic of Kampuchea and Vietnam

*The English version of the Agreement (PDF file) is an unofficial translation, the content of which was checked with the official Vietnamese version by the editor, who is native in Vietnamese. There are no conflicts in the contents and the use of terms between the Vietnamese version and this English version.

  • Summary

This legal document contains the Agreement on the Historical Waters between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the People's Republic of Kampuchea signed on 18 February 1979. The Historical Waters locate between the coast of Kien Giang province Phu Quoc island to Tho Chu Islands of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the coast of Kampot province to Poulo Wai Islands of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, the specific coordinates of which are stated in the document. The mentioned Historical Waters are put under internal water status due to geographic and historical conditions. According to the document, the patrol, and control activities of, the traditional fishing activities by local people within, and the exploitation of natural resources within the Historical Waters will be conducted by both sides, with bilateral negotiation for resource extraction activities.

Notably, the agreement does not conclude an official maritime boundary between Vietnam and Cambodia within the agreed Historical Waters. Both contracting parties take the Brevie Line as the island divider in the area. The 'point 0", which will be a base point to measure the breadth of the territorial sea of each country, will locate on the line connecting Tho Chu Islands and Poulo Wai Island. This point 0 was officially used as a starting point for the Vietnamese territorial sea's straight baseline in the Statement by the Government  Vietnam on the Territorial Sea Baseline in 1982.

by cm08

(English vesion) Statement on 12 November 1982 of Vietnam on the Territorial Sea Baseline of Viet Nam

  • 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.

by jordani

(Vietnamese version) Statement on 12 November 1982 of Vietnam on the Territorial Sea Baseline of Viet Nam

  • Summary

This legal document contains the Vietnamese version of the Statement on 12 November 1982 by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Territorial Sea Baseline of Viet Nam.

The summary article of this document can be found at that of its English version.

 

by jordani

(English version) Statement of Vietnam on 12 May 1977 on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf

  • Summary

This legal document contains the English version of the Statement of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf, promulgated in 1977. The statement states the interpretation of and the legal status of the territorial sea, contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, the continental shelves, and the regime of islands of Vietnam.

There was no clarification regarding the measurement of the baseline of the territorial sea, which would be addressed later in the Statement on 12 November 1982 by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam on the Territorial Sea Baseline of Viet Nam. Legal interpretation included in the Statement does not deviate from those provided in the 1982 UNCLOS which was established 5 years later with Vietnam as one of the contracting parties. Further extension on the sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction of the state of Vietnam and the rights and duties of foreign vessels within the maritime zones mentioned in the first paragraph can be found in Vietnam's Law of the Sea adopted in 2012.

by jordani

(Vietnamese version) Statement of Vietnam on 12 May 1977 on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf

This legal document contains the Vietnamese version of the Statement of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and the Continental Shelf, promulgated in 1977.

The summary article of this document can be found in that of its English version.

Document: Statement of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 12 May 1977 on the Territorial Sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and the Continental Shelf (adopted from canhsatbien.vn)

by jordani