Vietnam is interested in maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

On December 11, Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, delivered an important speech at the General Debate of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on the topic "Law of the Sea and Oceans", on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung. (Source: tintuc.vnn.vn)

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung said that fully aware of the importance of oceans and seas in ensuring global food security and maintaining economic prosperity and wealth of countries around the world, Vietnam supports the United Nations General Assembly in continuing to promote the issue of sustainable use and development of oceans, seas and marine resources.

Viet Nam highly appreciates the recent results and efforts of the bodies under the United Nations General Assembly, and encourages the General Assembly to consider and adopt the recommendations of the Fifth Meeting of the Special Open Informal Working Group on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (Document A/67/95), the Thirteenth Meeting of the United Nations Open Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (Document A/67/120) and the Third Meeting of the Special Working Group on the Process of Regular Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, Including Socio-Economic Fields (Document A/67/87). Viet Nam also highly appreciates the achievements of the bodies established by UNCLOS such as the International Seabed Authority, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung said that UNCLOS represents the international community's aspiration for an equitable international legal order in the oceans and is accepted by most countries in the world. The Ambassador assessed UNCLOS as a "Constitution for the Oceans," because UNCLOS has set out a comprehensive legal framework within which all activities in the seas and oceans must be complied with and created an important basis for maintaining peace and stability, promoting the development of the marine economy, and rationally exploiting and conserving marine resources and the environment in seas within and beyond national jurisdiction. More importantly, UNCLOS has established a new mechanism for resolving maritime disputes, thereby providing state parties with a useful means to resolve disagreements peacefully. UNCLOS also creates a balance between the rights and obligations of the parties.

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung affirmed that, immediately after UNCLOS was adopted, Vietnam was one of 107 countries that signed the Convention on April 30, 1982. And since ratifying UNCLOS in 1994, Vietnam has made efforts to implement the Convention as stated in Vietnam's Report on the Implementation of UNCLOS sent to the United Nations Secretary-General, which is currently being circulated as an official document of the 67th Session of the General Assembly under Agenda Article 75 (a) (Oceans and Law of the Sea).

Based on the provisions of UNCLOS as well as considering the practical situation, in June 2012, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed the Law of the Sea of ​​Vietnam. This is an important legal effort of Vietnam to concretize the provisions of UNCLOS into Vietnam's national law, contributing to improving the national legal framework related to Vietnam's seas and islands. The Law of the Sea of ​​Vietnam has created a basic legal basis for Vietnam in using, managing and protecting sea areas and resources.

Ambassador Le Hoai Trung emphasized that as a country with 3,260 km of coastline in the East Sea, Vietnam is very interested in maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, including ensuring maritime security, promoting prosperity and friendly cooperation in accordance with international law, especially UNCLOS.

Vietnam calls on all signatory countries as well as other countries to support the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the 2012 Statement of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting on ASEAN's Six-Point Principles on the East Sea. Vietnam is ready to work towards the early signing of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea to further promote peace, stability and cooperation in the region./.

According to (TTXVN) - LT