Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto agreed in a meeting on March 28 that the two countries would send a message of `strong opposition` to China’s moves that could escalate tensions in the region.

Minister Nobuo said the `strong message of protest` includes promoting defense cooperation with Indonesia and a joint exercise by the two countries’ militaries in the East Sea, but has not announced the specific time and location.

The Chinese fleet illegally anchored on a reef near Sinh Ton Dong Island in Vietnam’s Truong Sa archipelago on March 23.

The information was announced in the context of a Chinese fleet of more than 200 ships anchored at a rocky beach in the southern region of the East Sea since March 7.

However, the Philippine Coast Guard said this group of ships was controlled by Chinese maritime militia and anchored in the area for many days without fishing, despite favorable weather.

The international community is increasingly concerned about the presence that the Philippines describes as `threatening` of the Chinese fleet.

At a press conference on March 25, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that the activities of Chinese ships within the territorial waters of Sinh Ton Dong in the Truong Sa archipelago of Vietnam have violated Vietnam’s sovereignty.

`Vietnam requests that China stop violating, respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, willingly implement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, strictly comply with the DOC, especially the obligation to restrain and not cause trouble.`

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Vietnam’s maritime law enforcement forces are fulfilling their obligations stipulated in Vietnamese laws and international law.

Location of Sinh Ton Dong island (circled in red) belongs to Sinh Ton cluster in Truong Sa archipelago.

China raised unreasonable sovereignty claims over most of the East Sea area, illegally reclaimed and reclaimed entities in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, then built military structures and controlled

The East Sea is an important sea route in the region, with goods worth at least 3,400 billion USD passing through each year.