Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lê Hải Bình. — File Photo

HÀ NỘI Viet Nam News -— Việt Nam welcomes the G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement that affirms a common goal of safeguarding aviation and maritime security and respect for international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lê Hải Bình said.

Bình made the statement in response to a Vietnam News Agency reporter’s query on Việt Nam’s reaction to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement that expressed concerns over the situation in the East Sea during the ministry’s regular news conference in Hà Nội yesterday.
“Việt Nam asks for parties concerned to make practical contributions to the maintenance of peace, stability and obedience to the law in seas and oceans,” he said.

The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US, as well as a representative from the European Union, met in Hiroshima, Japan, on April 10 and 11 to discuss issues related to counter-terrorism and global security.
They reaffirmed their commitment to further international co-operation on maritime security and safety in a statement released on April 11.
“We reiterate our commitment to the freedoms of navigation and overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the high seas and exclusive economic zones, as well as to the related rights and freedoms in other maritime zones, including the rights of innocent passage, transit passage and archipelagic sea lane passage consistent with international law,” the statement said.
“We express our strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions, and urge all states to refrain from such actions such as land reclamation - including large scale ones – and the building of outposts, as well as their use for military purposes,” the statement noted. — VNS