Exclusive-Better China ties can help regional peace, security, Vietnam's top leader says

SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - Strong relations between Vietnam and its giant neighbour and territorial rival China would benefit regional peace and security, although ties with the U.S. were also important, Vietnam's top leader has said.

"We do not pick sides," Communist Party General Secretary and President To Lam told Reuters late ‌on Friday in his first interview with an international media outlet in his current role.

He said there was no contradiction in seeking stronger relations with China and ‌ensuring progress in solving the long-simmering territorial disputes across the South China Sea.

"If we can maintain good relations and dialogue, then all disagreements can be resolved," Lam said, speaking through an interpreter.

"Having good relations with China, safeguarding our ​sovereignty and settlement of issues in the East Sea are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive," Lam said, using Vietnam's name for the South China Sea.

He reiterated Vietnam's long-standing position of wanting to solve disputes on the basis of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China's claims to large swathes of the South China Sea are acutely felt in Vietnam, which also claims all the Chinese-occupied Paracel islands and the entire Spratlys archipelago to the south.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also rival claimants to the strategic trade route where naval deployments ‌are rising, underlining how it has become a growing regional flashpoint.