US President Barack Obama has called for a "peaceful resolution" of the South China Sea dispute on the second day of his historic Vietnam tour. The US leader landed in Vietnam on Monday to start an unprecedented three-day tour to the former enemy country.        

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In a speech delivered at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on Tuesday, Obama reiterated that the US may not be a claimant in South China Sea dispute, but will continue to support all its partners.  

"In the South China Sea, the US is not a claimant in current disputes, but we will stand with our partners in upholding key principles like freedom of navigation," Obama said.

Obama made indirect reference to China in his speech, stressing that bigger nation must not resort to bullying tactics to settle the maritime dispute.

"Nations are sovereign, and no matter how large or small a nation may be, its territory should be respected. Big nations should not bully smaller ones," he said without naming China.

China immediately responded to Obama's stand on freedom of navigation on Tuesday. Beijing questioned the very purpose of the US's freedom of navigation operation, which was started last year in response to China's construction activities in the Spratly Islands and other artificial reefs.

"The freedom of navigation they are talking about, is it true freedom of navigation enjoyed by every nation under international law, or it is a privileged freedom of navigation for American naval vessels and military aircraft?" the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. "If the former, of course, we welcome it with open arms, we protect it and resolutely support it," she added. "But if it is the latter, I think the international community would not agree."

Obama's remark on the South China Sea comes only a day after the US lifted its 42-year-old arms ban on Vietnam. The historic move is largely aimed at empowering Vietnam's military defense against the highly assertive China.

Vietnam has been seeking a complete removal of the embargo as the ban was only partially lifted in 2014. The US has not sold any arms to Vietnam since the ban was partially removed.      

Monday's announcement of the complete removal of the ban was welcomed by the Vietnamese government. However, the US' decision comes with a sticking condition that Vietnam would strive to improve its track record on human right issues. US officials had urged Obama to extract a commitment from Vietnam over human right issues before revoking ban on arms sales.          

Vietnam's government continuously faces international ire for the detention of scores of political activists every year. To keep up the pressure on the issue, Obama met several Vietnamese dissident leaders and political activists on Tuesday.

Tagschina, South China Sea, Barack Obama, Vietnam, China and Vietnam