Ministry says regional countries are best to ensure peace

Peace and prosperity should be maintained by regional, instead of individual countries, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Hua made the remarks after Vietnamese Vice-Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh voiced support for the United States' presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

When meeting Cara Abercrombie, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and South-East Asia on Monday, Nguyen said Vietnam supports US "intervention" in the Asia-Pacific region if it helps keep peace and stability, Reuters reported.

Responding to the report, Hua said: "History and reality both show that a country's sovereignty, security and development interests should be judged, handled and maintained by its own people.

Likewise, peace, stability and the prosperity of a region should be maintained together by all the regional countries through negotiation and cooperation, instead of relying on so-called 'intervention' by a certain country or some certain countries."