Vietnam wants maritime freedom

France and other countries should help to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam’s president told AFP Wednesday.
Speaking to AFP ahead of a visit by French leader Francois Hollande next month, Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang said he hopes France and others will help to diffuse regional tensions in the waterway, which it calls the East Sea.
“We highly welcome the cooperation from France and other nations in the process of maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world and on the East Sea,” he said, speaking from the presidential palace, the former residence of the Indochina governor during French colonial rule.
The Vietnamese president, whose role is mostly ceremonial, said Hollande’s visit would help to boost military ties between the former colonial foes, as Hanoi has rapidly increased its defense budget in the last decade.
“Several directions for cooperation will be strengthened and opened, like... ensuring security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation,” Quang said in a statement to AFP after the interview.

Source: Arab News