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"As far as we are concerned we recognize the right of the Vietnamese government to claim these islands," Communist Party chief Raja Collure told a meeting of the Sri Lanka Vietnam Friendship Association in Colombo.

"We cannot in the present circumstance partake in the dispute. The dispute has to be resolved through peaceful negotiations. And any action that impedes a peaceful solution cannot be condoned."

Collure said Communist Parties of both countries had friendly relations with his party.

China is claiming land around the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea, or the East Sea as Vietnam calls it.

China sent an oil rig to the disputed waters and a fleet of ships to protect it last month. At least one unarmed Vietnamese fishing vessel has been rammed by a Chinese ship, the smaller country has said.

"China has once again endangered the security and stability in the East Sea region by the repetition of its military coercion and brinkmanship against Vietnam," Hanoi envoy to Colombo Ton Sinh Thanh said.

"To protect their illegal activities in the East Sea, China deploys a large number of vessels, including military ships and aircraft around the oil rig."

He said the rig was 120 miles off the coastline of Vietnam and was 80 miles inside Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.

Lawyers M A Rizwi and Premadara Dissanayake said under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) the islands were clearly within the economic zone of Vietnam.

Sri Lanka was currently facing situation where Tamil Nadu state in India, a much more powerful neighbor was making statements about the Kachchathivu islands, where the territory had already been resolved through a treaty.

"If the island is taken by force by India, if they send large ships, we will be in the same situation as Vietnam, Dissanayake said.

"If that happens we will have to resorting to International law is our only option. We will be helpless. So there has to be a voice against it."

Sri Lanka's government position is that the issue must be resolved bi-laterally.

China is also disputed claims with other nations around the South China Sea including Philippines, Japan and Malaysia involving other islands in the same sea, such as the Spratlys.

The Paracel Islands were uninhabited and China cannot claim exclusive economic zones out of the island's under accepted law, lawyers said.

China has claimed that they had been in some of the islands since 1950s.

In 1974, China had occupied the rest of the islands taking it from South Vietnam, when the Communist North was at war with the South, which was then backed by the United States.

But military occupation is longer a claim to territory, under international law.

On the other hand the disputed waters were clearly within 200 miles of the Ly Son island, which was inhabited and undisputedly Vietnamese territory. It was used as a radar station by the US during the Vietnam War.

Lawyer Rizwi said China was clearly violating international law and it could show evidence going back into the 19th century.

When Vietnam was under French rule in 1898, the then French Governor had started building a lighthouse on Paracel showing clearly that Vietnam had clear possession of the islands for centurie, Rizwi said.

"China has entered Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and is engaging activities," S Sudasinghe, Secretary General of Sri Lanka - Vietnam Friendship Association said.

"Both of these countries are friendly to our country. What we say is to act according to international law and to act without harming regional and world peace and solve the problem though peaceful means."

He said unless it was solved through negotiations the road was being made for the United States, the 'world policemen' to enter the dispute.

The US has already called on China to withdraw the oil rigs.

China is believed to be claiming the area due to the possibility of oil and also because it is an important shipping lane carrying oil and cargo to and from China and the rest of East Asia.

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