(VOVworld) – President of the UN General Assembly John Ashe expressed his deep concern over the East Sea situation and supported Vietnam’s policy to resolve the issue through peaceful means in line with the UN Charter and international law. He said parties concerned should not take any unilateral action that would escalate the tension and that he is willing to help the parties resolve the issue.

President of the UN General Assembly John Ashe

Ashe met Tuesday with Vietnamese Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Le Hoai Trung at the UN Office in New York to discuss China’s illegal deployment of oil rig Hai Yang 981 within Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Ambassador Trung said that since the deployment of the oil rig, China has used several vessels, including warships, to impede Vietnam’s law-enforcement vessels, intentionally ramming and firing water-cannons at Vietnamese vessels, injuring Vietnamese fisheries resources surveillance officers. A Chinese ship recently sank a Vietnamese fishing boat operating in its traditional fishing ground. Ambassador Trung reiterated that Vietnam has exercised restraint and wants to resolve the issue through dialogue and peaceful means in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982.
The Vietnamese Ambassador asked the UN and the international community to continue their support for Vietnam’s goodwill, adding that Vietnam has full historical and legal evidence of its sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago. He rejected the untruthful and unconvincing documents China has presented at the UN and the announcement made by China’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday.