Vietnam welcomes the G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement on security that featured a common goal of safeguarding aviation and maritime security and safety, maritime security and respect for international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

G7 foreign ministers at the first meeting.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh made the statement in reply to a Vietnam News Agency reporter’s query on Vietnam’s reaction to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ statement that expressed concerns about the situation in the East and South China Seas, during the ministry’s regular news conference in Hanoi on April 14.

“Vietnam 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, the US and High Representative of the European Union met in Hiroshima, Japan, on April 10 and 11 and discussed issues related to counter-terrorism and global security.

They reaffirmed their commitment to further international cooperation 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 the 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 lanes 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 as land reclamation including large scale ones, building of outposts, as well as their use for military purposes and to act in accordance with international law including the principles of freedoms of navigation and overflight,” the statement noted.

VNA