South China Sea disputes

UNITED NATIONS - A spokesperson for John Ashe, the president of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, on Thursday denied a Vietnamese news report which said that the president backed Vietnam's stance on solving the alleged dispute with China over the South China Sea.

"No, no, no," Afaf Konja told Xinhua over phone in response to a Vietnam News Agency (VNA) report.

She said that Ashe was not invited and did not offer any personal opinions, nor was he expected to express a preference for any one UN member state over another during his recent meeting with Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, the permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations.

The VNA, reporting from New York on Wednesday, said that Ashe voiced concern over the current South China Sea situation and that he backed Vietnam's stance of solving the dispute peacefully based on the UN Charter and international law.