(VOVworld) - China’s violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea topped the agenda of a hearing on the budget for the US rebalancing strategy in the Asia Pacific Region in 2015. During the hearing at the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 21, US Senators expressed their deep concern over China’s provocative acts in recent years. At the Q&A session with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, many Congressmen strongly condemned China’s deployment of its oil rig in Vietnam’s waters.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel at the hearing

Mr. Russel said that during his recent visit to Asia, President Obama showed both verbally and by his actions the US commitment to stability in the region as well as Washington’s respect to international law, principles and norms. Russel emphasized that in addition to the US diplomatic channel, the world community’s protests at China’s unilateral action will certainly impact Chinese leaders’ decisions. Meanwhile, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said that the US reaction to the issue was not strong enough in the face of China’s actions which he described as “violent and arrogant”. In addition, US congressmen also expressed their concern  over China’s monetary control and cyber attacks.

Russel said that the US has proposed a budget package of 1.2 billion USD for activities in East Asia- Pacific in 2015. It includes more than 800 million USD for overseas support programs. The US plans to provide 18 million USD for the capacity-building of Vietnam’s patrol forces in salvage, rescue, disaster response and other areas. The US will also increase support to the governances for inclusive growth to help Vietnam realize its commitment within the TPP agreements.

Nhat Quynh-Huy Hoang- VOV correspondent in Washington