Vietnam has registered their interest after several member states of the United Nations circulated documents expressing their view regarding the recent situation in the East Sea, internationally known as South China Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang 

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang made the statement on June 11 in reply to request from a reporter for a comment regarding the United States sending a letter to the United Nations in which the US states their opposition for the illegal Chinese sovereignty claims in the East Sea.

“Vietnam's stance on the East Sea issue relating to sovereignty and legal rights at sea is clear-cut, consistent and has been repeatedly clarified. Once again, I would like to affirm that Vietnam has sufficient historical and legal evidence to prove its sovereignty over the Paracel (Hoang Sa), and the Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelagoes in the East Sea as well as legal rights to Vietnam's territorial water seas which were defined in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

The international community as well as the United Nations attaches great importance to UN member states, which have a high regard for promoting and complying with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS,” the spokesperson stated.

In a June 1 letter sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Ambassador Kelly Craft, the US representative at the United Nations, mentioned a diplomatic note send by China on 12 December, 2019, in which the Chinese side protested Malaysia for sending a submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the same day.

Ambassador Craft emphasized that the US’ opposition to China's maritime sovereignty claims as they fail to comply with international laws reflected in the 1982 UNCLOS.

The US diplomat therefore requested that the UN chief circulates his letter to all UN members as a text for the agenda of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.