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| Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang |
She made the statement during the ministry’s regular press conference in Hanoi on May 27, in response to media questions about Vietnam's reaction to the Chinese Navy's announcement on May 23 that it had recently conducted a live-fire exercise in the East Sea.
Also sharing views on the announcement by Philippine authorities that they are preparing to carry out a project to repair and upgrade runways and infrastructure facilities on Thi Tu (Thitu) island in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago of Vietnam, spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang once again affirmed that Vietnam has full legal basis and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago in accordance with international law.
“All activities infringing upon Vietnam's sovereignty and related rights in the Spratly Islands are illegal and invalid. The country demands relevant parties respect its sovereignty, respect international law, and comply with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) , without taking actions to further complicate the situation. The parties should make practical and positive contributions to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea as well as creating a favorable environment for the negotiation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC),” the official said.
She also emphasized, “Maintaining peace, stability, order, security, safety, freedom of aviation and navigation, and respecting the rule of law, sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of countries in the East Sea are the common goals, interests, responsibilities and aspirations of all countries and the international community. Vietnam hopes that the parties will make responsible efforts to contribute to this issue.”
* Vietnam makes every effort to ensure workers’ rights as developing human resources is one of its strategic breakthroughs in socio-economic development, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told the ministry’s press conference on May 27.
Based on this spirit, Vietnam has joined and effectively implemented many international cooperation agreements and programmes on labour and human resources development, Hang stressed when commenting on the signing of a new memorandum of understanding between Vietnam and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which includes the country’s accession to more ILO conventions.
Vietnam has so far joined 25 ILO conventions, including seven of the eight basic conventions, including those related to collective bargaining, preventing and fighting discrimination, child labour, and forced labour. The country has also made efforts to implement these conventions, including the internalisation of their provisions in the national legal framework, especially the 2019 Labour Code.
To promote the application and implementation of international labour standards in Vietnam and to intensify close cooperation, especially in studying Vietnam’s accession to 15 more ILO conventions, Vietnam and the ILO signed an MoU on May 20 on cooperation in accelerating the implementation of international labour standards in Vietnam over the next 10 years, Hang said.
