Vietnam asserts respect for legal freedom of navigation at sea

By Viet Anh August 8, 2019 | 05:28 am PT

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan conducts military drills during Keen Sword, a joint field-training exercise involving U.S. military, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel and Royal Canadian Navy, at sea November 3, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Tim Kelly.

Vietnam respects legal freedom of navigation at sea, its Foreign Ministry stated Thursday, referring to a U.S. carrier's actions in South China Sea.

Vietnam has many times confirmed its respect for freedom of navigation at sea in accordance with international law, the ministry's spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press conference.

The U.S. carrier USS Ronald Reagan, along with escorts and fighter jets, conducted flight operations in the South China Sea on Monday and Tuesday, according to the U.S.'s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

The South China Sea is known in Vietnam as the East Sea.

"Maintaining peace, stability and freedom of navigation in the East Sea with respect for the law is in the international community’s common interest," Hang said.

"Vietnam wants countries to make practical contributions and to have responsibility for achieving that goal," she added.

The USS Ronald Reagan is a Nimitz-class carrier of the United States Navy.