The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Chinese exercises in Hoang Sa violated Vietnam's sovereignty.

"Vietnam's stance on China's exercises in the South China Sea has been stated in a statement by the Foreign Ministry spokesman on August 26," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang on August 31.

"Vietnam's consistent view is that all activities in the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos of Vietnam without the permission of Vietnam violate the sovereignty of Vietnam over these two archipelagos.

On August 23, the Vietnam Maritime Bureau of Hainan Province, China announced the military exercises of this country from August 24 to August 29 in the Paracel Islands in Vietnam and southeast of Hainan Island.

The Chinese area exercises illegally in the north - northeast of Vietnam's Hoang Sa archipelago (yellow zone).

This is the second time China has held illegal exercises in the past two months in the Hoang Sa archipelago under Vietnam's sovereignty, which has been occupied by force since 1974.

A source close to the Chinese military said that the country fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles, including the DF-26B from Qinghai and the DF-21D from Zhejiang, into the South China Sea on August 26 morning.

On August 26, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that "the fact that China repeatedly conducts exercises in the Paracel archipelago violates Vietnam's sovereignty over the archipelago, causing complications.

"Vietnam asks China to respect Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracel Islands, to cancel and not to repeat the same violation," she said.