Responding to questions about Viet Nam’s viewpoints on the self-claimed Islamic State members taking two Japanese nationals hostage, she acclaimed that Viet Nam strongly condemns barbaric inhumane acts targeting innocent civilians and supports efforts by the international community to combat terrorism in any form. She said Viet Nam also endorses the fight against extremist violence on the basis of the United Nations Charter, respecting the fundamental rights and principles of international law on independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of countries concerned and ensuring the safety of civilians. An Islamic State member threatened in an online video message on January 20 to kill Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto unless Japan pays US$200 million in 72 hours.
Answering a question about Viet Nam’s viewpoint on the high-level talks between the US and Cuba on the resumption of diplomatic ties, she stated that along with the declarations of the Cuban and US leaders about restoring the diplomatic relations, progresses were made recently, having created crucial steps to start a new period in the two countries’ relationship.
In term of protecting overseas Vietnamese in regrettable cases in Indonesia and Malaysia, Ms. Hang asserted that the State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) give priority to protecting citizens and legal entity for overseas Vietnamese to ensure rights and benefits for Vietnamese citizens.
For overseas Vietnamese facing difficulties, the MFA directs Viet Nam’s representative agencies to coordinate with local functional agencies to ascertain the information and carry out necessary protection measures to guarantee the rights for Vietnamese citizens based on the local and international laws. The MFA recommended overseas Vietnamese to contact Viet Nam’s diplomatic representative agencies when meeting difficulties.
