Will the East Sea be a topic of interest at the 36th ASEAN Summit?

Traditional security challenges

The above comments were made by delegates at the informal ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM), the ASEAN Political-Security Community Meeting (APSCC) and the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) held online on June 24.

Regarding the East Sea, delegates attending the Conferences agreed that peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the region should be considered a high priority, especially at the present time when the international community is focusing on joint efforts to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Delegates also emphasized the importance of refraining from actions that complicate the situation, upholding international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promptly resuming negotiations on an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law.

In that spirit, as chair of the above meetings, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh expressed concern about recent developments in the East Sea, affirming the consistent stance of ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh also called on countries to promote a sense of responsibility, dialogue and cooperation for peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea. In this process, it is necessary to uphold international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, exercise self-restraint, avoid actions that complicate the situation and militarize, fully implement the DOC and build an effective and efficient COC in accordance with international law.

Thus, it can be seen that the East Sea will still be one of the topics to be discussed at the 36th ASEAN Summit taking place on June 26, aiming to ensure peace, order, maritime and aviation safety in the East Sea, avoiding unnecessary conflicts and miscalculations that could escalate tensions.

With efforts to assume ASEAN's central role in the region, delegates believe that the 36th ASEAN Summit will find effective and practical measures for the East Sea issue as well as promote cooperation among countries in the region to jointly address other traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

Covid-19 overarching issue

While the East Sea is a traditional security issue that has been a topic of discussion for a long time at ASEAN Summits, Covid-19 is one of the non-traditional security issues that has recently emerged but is also very noteworthy not only in ASEAN but also globally.

Also at the informal AMM, APSCC and ACC conferences this time, delegates assessed that the Covid-19 pandemic situation is evolving very complicatedly, threatening not only the security and politics of countries but also disrupting the global supply chain, causing serious damage to the economy and it will take a long time to overcome the consequences caused by Covid-19.

However, delegates also acknowledged that in such a difficult and challenging context, ASEAN's cooperation mechanisms have played a positive role in promoting regional cooperation to prevent and combat the epidemic. Clear evidence is the success in controlling the epidemic in the region, the attention, support and cooperation of the international community and ASEAN's partners.

Most opinions said that in recent times, ASEAN has truly become the central force in controlling the epidemic and maintaining political and social stability in the region. Delegates agreed that it is time for ASEAN to take new steps, strengthen disease prevention and control, and develop a post-epidemic recovery and development plan. In this process, dialogue and cooperation must continue to be the main means in relations between countries.

Sharing the same view with the delegates, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh highly appreciated initiatives such as establishing an ASEAN fund to prevent Covid-19, a medical supplies reserve, building a standard ASEAN disease response process, and developing a recovery plan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh emphasized the spirit of solidarity and cooperation of ASEAN, calling on countries to promptly implement these initiatives, and urgently develop a comprehensive post-pandemic recovery plan. The results of the implementation of these initiatives will be reported to the Senior Leaders at the 37th ASEAN Summit (Hanoi, November 2020).