Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in the US have cared about the homeland’ssituation, especially issues regarding national security, sea and islandsovereignty, said a senior diplomat.

VietnameseAmbassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong made the statement while meetingreporters on the sidelines of the 27 th Diplomatic Conference, which istaking place in the capital city of Hanoi from Dec. 12-19.

“OVs as well as newspapers of OVs mentioned these issues and raised alot of questions whenever they met me,” Cuong was quoted by the dailiesLao Dong (Labour) and Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) as saying.

The ambassador said he told OVs that national sovereignty andterritorial integrity is a sacred thing for all Vietnamese people livingboth in and outside the country.

“The mostimportant matter is how to deal with differences on the basis ofnegotiations and international law as well as maintain a stable andpeaceful environment for national development,” he stressed.

Regarding Vietnam-US relations, the diplomat said the bilateral tieshave seen great progress in all aspects since the two countriesnormalised their relations 16 years ago.

However,the US should work harder to enhance trust between the two nations,he said, adding that the US should also soon lift its embargo onanti-personnel weapons against Vietnam , and recognise the country’smarket economy status./.