East Sea issue raised at ASEAN Plus One Meetings
VGP – Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed concerns over complicated developments in the East Sea, including unilateral actions that have eroded trust and threatened peace while addressing the ASEAN-Russia and ASEAN-New Zealand Ministerial Meetings in Bangkok on Wednesday.
 |
|
Foreign Ministers of ASEAN countries and Russia to the ASEAN-Russia Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on July 31, 2019. Photo: VGP |
>>> VN expresses grave concerns over recent developments in East Sea
Minh reaffirmed principles reached by ASEAN and called on parties to exercise self-restraint, avoid actions that may complicate the situation or intensify tensions, uphold the international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon conclude the Code of Conduct that is effective and practical in line with international law.
At the ASEAN-Russia meeting, the two sides acknowledged the new turning point of the bilateral ties with the establishment of the ASEAN-Russia strategic partnership at the end of 2019.
The Foreign Ministers agreed to foster comprehensive cooperation across pillars, focusing on priority areas like anti-terrorism, energy security, cybersecurity, agriculture, trade, investment, development of small and medium sized enterprises, education, connectivity, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
Both sides also agreed to mull over the possibility of enhancing cooperation between ASEAN and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), fruitfully realizing the ASEAN-Russia Joint Statement on cooperation in the field of security of and in the use of information and communication technologies, including the establishment of a Dialogue on the security of ICTs.
The ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership commenced in 1996. Russia acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia in 2004. The trade volume between the two parties has reached US$9.88 billion in the first half of 2019. Russia is the 8th trading partner of ASEAN.
At the ASEAN-New Zealand meeting, ASEAN countries welcomed New Zealand to deploy the People Strategy and Prosperity Strategy in order to accelerate cooperation with ASEAN, acknowledging the significance of the 45th anniversary of the ASEAN-New Zealand Strategic Partnership in 2020.
Both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in new domains like renewable energy and infrastructure development, air transport, investment, digital economy, agriculture among others.
New Zealand expressed appreciation for ASEAN’s Statement issued after the mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019, and was pleased with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific adopted by ASEAN Leaders.
ASEAN countries highly valued New Zealand’s assistance for education, people-to-people exchanges, capacity building, adaptation to climate change, and natural disaster prevention through ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance (AHA) Center./.
By Kim Anh
