Sovereignty claims in disputed areas in the East Vietnam Sea, including the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, must be dealt with peacefully, diplomatically, and according to international law, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told a press conference in Hanoi on Thursday.

>> Vietnam will hit back if Chinese vessels continue ramming Vietnamese ships: official

The U.S. Embassy in the Vietnamese capital city held the conference one day after Vietnam released a video showing Chinese vessels rammed Vietnamese ships and blasted them with water cannons when the latter were trying to prevent China from setting up a giant oil rig in Vietnam’s waters.

The attacks, which occurred on May 3, 4, and 7, damaged several Vietnamese ships and wounded six Vietnamese fisheries surveillance staff, Vietnamese authorities said Wednesday at a separate international press conference in the same city.

China has deployed up to 80 vessels, including military ships, to guard the oil rig since the platform was illegally deployed to Vietnamese waters on May 1.

Daniel said the U.S. has commitments to the principles of freedom of navigation and unimpeded lawful commerce as well as the absolute importance for claiming countries to exercise restraint.

He added the regional economy and the global economy is too important and too fragile to book the possibility of a crisis that could escalate into conflict.

The American official said both Vietnam and China claim sovereignty in the disputed areas in the East Vietnam Sea but “it is not for the United States to say which position is stronger.”

“But it is within the right of the United States and the international community to call on parties to address the disputes in a peaceful way, and to handle the matter in a way that is fully consistent with international law,” Daniel elaborated.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel (1st R) talks to reporters at a press conference held at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi on May 8, 2014. Photo: Tuoi Tre

When asked by a Vietnamese reporter whether the U.S. will move their ships close to the disputed waters if Vietnamese authorities ask for help, Daniel said the U.S. does not take a position on the relative merits of any country's claim in the East Vietnam Sea and he emphasized again that the issue must be addressed peacefully and in accordance with international law.

According to the U.S. Assistant Secretary, U.S. President Obama was committed to maintaining security, stability, and economic development in the Asia Pacific region when he visited East Asia and Southeast Asia two weeks ago. 

The senior official said the U.S. has a long history of involvement in Asia, insisting that it has good, candid, and in-depth diplomatic dialogues with all of the claimant countries involved in the East Vietnam Sea dispute.

The U.S. uses those channels at every level to urge the parties toward a constructive and really acceptable diplomatic means to address their differences, he said.

"I believe that the growing economic ties among the countries in Asia Pacific serve as a constructive network that encourages good neighbors, that encourages peaceful resolution, and raises the cost ultimately for unilateral, provocative behavior,” he added.

On May 3, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration released a navigational warning on its website, saying that China’s drilling rig HD 981 was operating in a location of 15°29’58’’ North latitude and 111°12’06’’ East longitude in the East Vietnam Sea and will continue to operate until August 15. The announced location of the drilling rig is completely within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, about 119 nautical miles (221 km) from Ly Son Island off the central Vietnamese province of Quang Ngai and 18 nautical miles south of Tri Ton Island of the country’s Hoang Sa archipelago, according to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Hai Binh.