‘We must defend our territorial integrity’: Vietnamese prime minister refers to South China Sea dispute after being re-elected
Nguyen Xuan Phuc has surprised many observers and his critics with his pro-business attitude and down-to-earth approach in managing the economy
Vietnam’s prime minister vowed to defend the country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea as he was re-elected on Tuesday by the rubber-stamp National Assembly.
In his acceptance speech broadcast live on state television, Nguyen Xuan Phuc called on parties to respect and comply with international law and not to further complicate the situation.
“We must resolutely and firmly defend our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, be determined to defend Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea and call on parties to respect and comply with international law and not to further complicate the situation,” Phuc said referring to the South China Sea in Vietnamese term.
We must resolutely and firmly defend our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity
An international tribunal two weeks ago rejected China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea in a case initiated by the Philippines. Vietnam is among the other claimants in the disputed area. China is ignoring the ruling, saying The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration has no authority in the matter.
The 62-year-old Phuc won 485 votes from 494 assembly deputies elected in the general elections in May, after becoming prime minister in a vote of the old assembly in April.
In addition to the sea dispute, Phuc’s government faces a serious budget deficit, soaring public debt, an inefficient state economic sector and the worst drought in nearly a century in the southern Mekong Delta, the country’s rice bowl. But Le Hong Hiep, a research fellow at the Yusof Ishak Institute of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said Phuc has surprised many observers and his critics with his pro-business attitude and down-to-earth approach in managing the economy.
“From his interventions to facilitate businesses to his comments on various economic issues, he has demonstrated that he is an active, capable and reform-minded leader that investors can rely on,” Hiep said in an email.