A Vietnamese naval official has warned that Vietnam will fire back if China resorts to force first in their ongoing rift in the East Vietnam Sea over an illegal oil rig Beijing has positioned in the waters since early May.

>> Vietnam never yields to force: State President>> Vietnam should prepare for all scenarios in China oil spat: Party chief>> Vietnam premier urges greater efforts to protect national sovereignty >> Chinese ship rams, sinks Vietnamese fishing boat in Vietnam’s waters “We will never be the first to use force, but if China deliberately opens fire on us, we will no longer restrain ourselves and will fight back,” Vice Admiral Nguyen Van Tinh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in an interview on Monday. China has illegally maintained its Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling platform in Vietnamese waters since May 1 despite Vietnam’s demand for the immediate removal of the rig. During the country’s past struggles against foreign invasion to protect its sovereignty, Vietnam has never yielded to any invaders in spite of their stronger military capabilities, Vice Admiral Tinh, who is the former political commissar of the Vietnam People’s Navy, said. “I have not been surprised by China’s illegal oil rig deployment, as China sent disguised ships to the East Vietnam Sea for spy operations and caused some encounters at sea more than ten years ago.” The official added that Vietnam has always been ready to cope with China’s acts of violating national sovereignty. By illegally placing the rig in Vietnamese waters and deploying over 100 vessels including warships to escort the platform, China has exposed itself as an invader, the official pointed out.   These vessels have aggressively rammed or fired their water cannons at Vietnamese ships as provocative acts that are aimed at inciting a strong reaction from Vietnam so that China has a pretext to “teach Vietnam another lesson,” as Beijing has stated, the official said. “We are clearly aware of China’s conspiracy. Therefore, over the past two months, we have restrained ourselves while applying peaceful measures based on international law to demand that China withdraw its rig from Vietnamese waters,” Vice Admiral Tinh said. “Our peaceful efforts in settling territorial disputes with China have been supported by the international community, but if China continues to drive us into a corner, causing a military clash and being the first to open fire in the clash, we will then fight back,” the official stressed.

“We love peace but not to the extent that we will allow China to freely do anything it wants despite international law,” he concluded.

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