Islands and archipelagos of Vietnam in the East sea in the process of economic - social development and national security defense

Abstract

Islands and archipelagos of Vietnam in the East Sea play an important role in the process of economic development and national security defense. With over 3,000 sea islands located in waters of Vietnam, they are classified into three groups based on the distance between the mainland and Vietnamese waters. As we have seen, under International Law, ownership of small islands without inhabitants or in unlivable condition is not because of  natural resources over these islands but rather a large extent of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surrounding them. Because of this reason, ownership of these islands is a great concern for many countries around the East Sea in particular and others in the world in general. This article presents an overview of islands and archipelagos of Vietnam in the East Sea, identifies the important role of these sea island groups in terms of geo-economic and geo-political aspects as well as shares some personal suggestions on possible solutions to sustainable cooperation in economic development and national security defense given the context of territorial sovereignty disputes over islands and archipelagos in the East Sea.