Vietnam requests that countries absolutely not to use force against
fishermen and others working at sea, Deputy Defence Minister Senior
Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh said at the ASEAN Defence Senior
Officials’ Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) held in Brunei on April 4.
“As a country with a long coastline along the East Sea, Vietnam has
always displayed concern and a high sense of responsibility in ensuring
peace and stability in this region,” Vinh said, adding that Vietnam
commits itself to and requests that all parties involved settle disputes
through peaceful dialogue in a public and transparent manner and in
accordance with international and regional treaties, including the 1982
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC), ASEAN’s six point principle on
the East Sea adopted in 2012, and make joint efforts to achieve a Code
of Conduct (COC) as early as possible.
The Deputy Defence
Minister also affirmed that Vietnam has and will do its utmost to
ensure international maritime freedom, safety and security in the waters
and continental shelf area under the country’s control.
The statement of the Vietnamese delegation head was supported by many participants at the conference.
Delegates at the conference, which included deputy defence ministers
and senior defence officials from 10 ASEAN countries and 8 ASEAN
dialogue partners, held that while peace and stability remain the main
trend in the Asia-Pacific, the region is facing various challenges from
both conventional and non-conventional security issues. They underscored
the tension on the Korean Peninsula , maritime security and safety
as well as disputes related to sovereignty and resources on the sea,
including those on the East Sea.
The delegates
spoke highly of the results of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus
(ADMM+) cooperation since its establishment in Hanoi in 2010 and
expressed hope that the cooperation process will continue to develop.
The conference adopted Vietnam’s initiative to establish a group of
experts to overcome the consequences of unexploded ordnance and agreed
that Vietnam and India will co-chair the implementation of the
initiative.
Within the framework of the ADSOM+, Deputy
Minister Vinh held several bilateral meetings with the head delegates of
China, the US, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Brunei to discuss
defence ties between Vietnam and the respective countries.-VNA