US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Photo: AFP)Hanoi (VNA) - US Secretary of State MikePompeo on August 4 held a phone talk with Bruneian Foreign Minister II ErywanYusof, during which he reaffirmed Washington’s support for Southeast Asiancountries in upholding their sovereign rights against China’s unlawful maritimeclaims in the East Sea.
According to US Principal Deputy Spokesperson Cale Brown, Pompeo stressedthe US’s opposition to China’s efforts to use coercion to push its unlawfulmaritime claims in the sea.
Pompeo and Erywan also discussed the importance of continued bilateral securityrelations and expressed their commitment to work toward strengthening therelations.
Earlier on August 3,Pompeo had similar discussions with his Indonesian and Singaporean counterpartson bilateral ties and regional tensions related to China’s illegal sovereigntyclaims in the East Sea.
On July 15, Spokeswoman of the VietnameseForeign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang said peace, stability, cooperation, anddevelopment in the East Sea are the common aspirations and goals of countriesbordering the East Sea as well as of those in the region and the internationalcommunity.
Upholding international law, respecting legalorder at sea, and fully and responsibly implementing the 1982 United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are critical to realising thosegoals, she said.
Vietnam hopes that countries will exert utmost efforts to contribute to maintainingpeace, stability, cooperation in the East Sea and to settling disputes viadialogue and other peaceful measures in accordance with international law forcommon interest and in line with aspirations of countries in the region and theinternational community, she said, adding that Vietnam always makes active andresponsible contributions to this process./.
VNA
