He was speaking at an event to welcome Singaporean Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam in Washington D.C. on May 12.
The official said, “There are many issues of concern where we thinkalike and we work in partnership. One of the most recent, obviously, isthe Chinese challenge to the Paracel Islands. And we are particularlyconcerned – all nations that are engaged in navigation and trafficwithin the South China Sea, the East China Sea, are deeply concernedabout this aggressive act.”
“We want to see a codeof conduct created; we want to see this resolved peacefully through theLaw of the Sea, through arbitration, through any other means, but notdirect confrontation and aggressive action,” he stressed.-VNA