ASEAN – China SOM meeting discusses COC building

PANO - On June 9^th, the 12^th ASEAN - China Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was held in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. The meeting saw the attendance of Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, head of Vietnam’s ASEAN SOM.

The meeting was co-chaired by China and Singapore, the country in charge of coordinating ASEAN-China relations. The event was attended by more than 180 delegates, including foreign scholars and representatives of diplomatic corps in Vietnam.

 On June 7^th and 8^th, the 17^th ASEAN-China Joint Working Group meeting (JWG) was held discussing measures to boost the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (South China Sea), or DOC, and approaches to build a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, or COC.

Delegates at the meeting. Source: VNA

At the meeting in Quang Ninh, ASEAN countries expressed concerns over the recent developments in the East Sea and stressed the importance of the international community’s role in dealing with the situation. Participants reaffirmed the importance of the full and effective implementation of DOC in  strengthening  trust and practical cooperation, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, security, maritime security and overflight in the East Sea. More stress was laid on the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and 10^th articles of DOC, which require regional countries of peaceful means to disputes; restraint; expansion of cooperation, and building of COC, respectively.

Discussing the building of COC, participants, for the first time, compared notes on the nature of COC, approaches to the building of COC, the deadline, and the outline of COC.

Parties at the meeting agreed to hold the next SOM and JWG meetings in August 2016 in Inner Mongolia, China. Participants also exchanged opinions and finished preparations for the special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on June 14^th in Kunming, China.

Addressing the meeting in Quang Ninh, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung reasserted that Vietnam and ASEAN highly valued relations with China. He laid stress on the fact that peace and stability in the East Sea are closely related to peace and stability of all countries in the region and beyond.

The Vietnamese official shared countries’ concerns over the recent developments in the East Sea and called on ASEAN countries and China to fully observe the rules of DOC, especially the 5^th article.

Regarding the building of COC, the Vietnamese official  emphasized the immediate need for a code of conduct so as to manage and prevent conflicts, maintain a favorable environment for the peaceful resolution to disputes. He went on to propose more meetings and exchanges of practical contents related to the code, especially the outline and deadline for the building of COC.

Translated by Huu Duong