In reply to the media’s request for a statement regarding the deployment of U.S. ships to some geographic structures in Vietnam's Spratly archipelago, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh stated:
“With sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, and as a member of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Vietnam respects the freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea in accordance with rules of the convention and in coastal countries. Vietnam calls for more involvement from related parties in maintaining peace, stability, security, and maritime safety in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC)."
