(VOVworld) – Vietnam's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on Sunday that Vietnam has historical and legal evidence to confirm sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, and is determined to solve the East Sea Dispute with peaceful measures, in accordance with international law. Any act by other countries on the two archipelagoes without Vietnam's permission is illegal and invalid. 

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang

She said Vietnam is keeping close track to verify the information that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his country’s military to occupy entities in the East Sea that are claimed by the Philippines and that he will visit Thi Tu Island in Spratly Archipelago which belongs to Vietnam. Ms Hang added that while waiting for a fundamental and long-term solution, related parties should not complicate the situation in the East Sea, but follow the 2002 Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC).