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Sea
Hanoi, March 23, 2017 (dpa/NAN) Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged parties to respect international law in resolving the South China Sea territorial dispute .
Speaking alongside Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Phuc at a press conference, Lee said it was in every country’s interests to maintain an approach to sea sovereignty based on established law.
“We share interests in rules based in international order in resolving issues in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Lee said.
In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal invalidated Beijing’s claims to almost the entire South China Sea, a key shipping lane believed to be rich in mineral and marine resources.
Beijing, which vowed to ignore the ruling, has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
Vietnam’s Phuc said he shared Lee’s sentiment, adding that the claimant countries should work together to maintain stability and economic cooperation in the sea.
“We have shared common views and values that countries in the region should work closely together in order to build the South China Sea into a region of peace, stability, security, safety and prosperity,” he said.
The two leaders signed six memorandums of understanding related to economic issues, including the establishment of a bank in Vietnam owned completely by Singapore’s UOB and the development of a science park in Da Nang. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Sadiya Hamza