On the sideline of the ongoing general debate of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung answered questions by reporters from Bloomberg, ITAR-TASS, Kyodo and Yonhap.

Vietnam and the United States are intensifying their bilateral relations and cooperation, and all of Vietnam’s efforts in this are for the objective of peace, friendship, mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and common development, PM Dung said.

On the Vietnam human rights bill said to be passed by the US Senate in November, the PM said if passed, the document will mark a set-back in the bilateral relations as it does not correctly reflect the reality in Vietnam , but is an interference and imposition of political will on another country. As a civilised country, the United States should not do so, he said.

He also said that the power of China is beneficial to the region and the world as a whole on condition that China must also respect independence and sovereignty of the other countries, and respect international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Regarding the disputes in the East Sea , PM Dung said currently there are differences between China and a number of ASEAN member countries on sovereignty, but they have been discussed by China and ASEAN, and the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) has been issued. However, while implementing it, countries have come to realise that the document is insufficient to ensure peace and that it should be made more legally binding into the Code of Conducts of Parties in the East Sea (COC).

On Vietnam’s role in UN offices, PM Dung said as a member of the international organisation and once elected as a non-permanent member of its Security Council, Vietnam has been doing all it can to take an effective part in the peace and development missions of the UN.-VNA