Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hosted a reception in Hanoi on July 2 for
Philippine Foreign Minister Albert F. del Rosario, who is on a Vietnam
visit under an invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Pham Binh Minh.
At the meeting, the Philippine
FM said his visit aims to deploy initiatives and agreement reached
during Dung’s visit to the Philippines on May 21-22.
He discussed in depth with PM Dung measures to consolidate and deepen
bilateral cooperation, particularly in politics, economics, security,
defence, agriculture, fisheries and education.
PM Dung urged the two countries to take more efforts to lift bilateral
ties to a new height towards a strategic partnership, and asked the two
foreign ministries to work together to achieve that goal.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the guest said that the recent
aggressive and inhumane acts of China in violation of international law
are worsening the East Sea situation.
In
particular, China’s illegal placement of the Haiyang Shiyou-981 rig in
Vietnam’s waters in early May as well as its use of force and threat to
use force against Vietnamese law enforcement forces and fishermen have
seriously infringed international law, especially the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), FM Rosario said.
According to him, these acts aim to assert and realise the “nine-dot
line” illegally claimed by China and expand its illegal sovereignty in
reality.
He noted that the Philippines has and
will continue coordinating with the international community to take
measures and actions to force China to abide by international law.
For his part, PM Dung said that nations holding sovereignty over the
East Sea and ASEAN member countries have no other way than to unite in
the fight to stop China’s violations of international law and other
countries’ sovereignty, even bringing the case to international
tribunals.
He also stressed the need to call on
the international community to raise their voice in opposing China’s
acts and demanding China immediately stop all aggressive acts and
violations of international law and the DOC, seriously abide by the DOC
and work with ASEAN towards the forming of a Code of Conduct in the East
Sea.-VNA