Peaceful measures are Vietnam's principle in resolving disputes.

Professor Pham Quang Minh, international relations expert and Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that diplomacy is a sharp tool for the world to better understand Vietnam, share Vietnam's values, viewpoints, and immutable principles of resolving disputes by peaceful means, not using force or threatening to use force.

Creating a peaceful environment

According to Professor Pham Quang Minh, Vietnam needs to take advantage of the voice of the international community and use its diplomacy to achieve the goal of peacefully resolving international conflicts.

This is a viewpoint that has been affirmed since 1988 when Vietnam had a new diplomatic and security strategy. This strategy still holds its value today with 3 contents: a strong economy, a sufficiently strong national defense and an open diplomacy.

Professor Pham Quang Minh commented that the third pillar is a sharp tool for the world to better understand Vietnam, share Vietnam's values, viewpoints, and immutable principles of resolving disputes by peaceful means, not using force or threatening to use force.

The naval force protecting the Truong Sa archipelago is equipped with modern patrol vehicles, always on high alert, patrolling and monitoring, grasping the situation at sea, accurately forecasting the situation to have plans and proactively respond to all developments. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

According to Professor Pham Quang Minh, a country without peace cannot develop. This viewpoint has been affirmed by Vietnam very early.

After 1975, when the Vietnam War ended, Vietnam affirmed that it needed a peaceful environment to develop.

In the 1980s, Vietnam also emphasized that the first priority in Vietnam's foreign policy was to create a peaceful environment.

Since then, not only Vietnam but also ASEAN have worked together to build Southeast Asia into a relatively peaceful region. This is a success not only for Vietnam but also for the entire ASEAN region.

The East Sea is the world's largest and busiest trade and shipping route, and according to Professor Pham Quang Minh, the US, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, etc. all have intertwined interests.

On the one hand, major countries play an important role in strengthening economic cooperation, but they are also the countries with the strongest defense spending and potential, with the US spending about 600 billion USD, China about 200 billion USD, Japan about 45-50 billion USD... Therefore, every move of these countries related to security issues affects countries in the region.

The new position of the country

However, Professor Pham Quang Minh emphasized that besides the role of large countries, small and medium-sized countries also play an important role in ensuring regional security.

Since the Cold War, the role of small and medium-sized countries, including the ASEAN region, in maintaining regional peace and security has become quite important.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the launching ceremony of the ASEAN National Committee 2020.

ASEAN has launched many initiatives, from the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), to the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+)...

In particular, all major countries participate in the mechanisms that ASEAN has put forward. This shows that the voices of small and medium-sized countries today have a great influence on the creation of peace and security in the region.

Professor Pham Quang Minh said that when the situation in the East Sea is showing signs of becoming tense and complicated, a free and open Indo-Pacific region will include contents that ensure freedom of navigation in the region on the basis of respect for international law and standards, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the prosperity of the region, including the East Sea.

Head of the Vietnamese delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung (center left) receives congratulations from diplomatic representatives of various countries after the voting results showed that Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, in New York, the US on June 7, 2019. Photo: THX/TTXVN

The principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific region are also directly related to the situation in the South China Sea.

For Vietnam, according to Professor Pham Quang Minh, after more than 30 years of renovation, the country has a completely different position.

Looking back to the 1980s, Vietnam was a new member of the international community. Vietnam was still unfamiliar with multilateral cooperation. But now, Vietnam's prestige and position have been raised, which is due to the success of the economic model transformation in Vietnam, from a centrally planned economy to a market economy.

Besides that impressive success, Vietnamese diplomacy has also made many important marks, actively participating in the integration process, and working with ASEAN countries to build and create a regional order.

Therefore, Professor Pham Quang Minh clearly emphasized that countries look at Vietnam as not only successful in domestic economic, political and cultural reforms but also actively participating in the common work of the region and the world, as a proactive and responsible member.

Vietnam's recent election with a very high number of votes to the United Nations Security Council also contributes to affirming that.

In 2014, China sent many escort ships to protect the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig that violated Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. Photo courtesy

In the current context, the way for small and medium-sized countries is still to resolve problems peacefully through diplomacy. Internal strength and consensus will give Vietnam a greater diplomatic voice as Uncle Ho taught: "Strength is the gong, diplomacy is the sound, the louder the gong, the louder the sound."

On the diplomatic front, Vietnam always needs to strive to implement the policy of multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations.