On June 21, 2012, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei held a press conference.

Hong Lei started the press conference by reading out a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.

On June 21, the National Assembly of Vietnam adopted the Vietnamese Law of the Sea which places China's Xisha and Nansha Islands under the so-called Vietnamese "sovereignty" and "jurisdiction". The Chinese Government hereby reaffirms: the Xisha and Nansha Islands are Chinese territory. China has indisputable sovereignty over the above islands and their adjacent waters. It is illegal and invalid for any country to lay territorial and sovereign claims to the Xisha and Nansha Islands or take any actions on that basis.

Hong Lei then briefed the press on China's representations with Vietnam. Hong Lei said that Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho on June 21 to lodge a solemn representation with the Vietnamese side concerning the adoption of the Vietnamese Law of the Sea by its National Assembly that infringes on China's territorial sovereignty.

Zhang Zhijun pointed out that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Xisha and Nansha Islands as well as their adjacent waters. The Vietnamese Law of the Sea includes China's Xishan and Nansha Islands within the so-called Vietnamese "sovereignty" and "jurisdiction". This severely infringes on China's territorial sovereignty, to which China expresses its strong protests and firm opposition. Complicating and magnifying the issue, Vietnam's unilateral action goes against the consensus between leaders of the two countries and the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and is detrimental to peace and stability in the South China Sea. Vietnam's move is illegal and invalid. China will resolutely safeguard its territorial sovereignty. China demands the Vietnamese side to immediately stop and rectify all its mistakes and refrain from doing anything that undermines China-Vietnam relations and peace and stability in the South China Sea.