In a joint statement issued on Thursday, they called on all coastal states of the East Sea to take steps and measures that reduce tensions and contribute to maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability and safety in the region, including as regards the rights of coastal states in their waters and the freedom and rights of navigation in and overflight above the East Sea.
They noted that as state parties of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), France, Germany, and the UK underline their interest in the universal application of the Convention which sets out the comprehensive legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas including in the East Sea must be carried out and which provides the basis for national, regional and global co-operation in the maritime domain. They recalled in this regard the Arbitration Award rendered under UNCLOS in 2016.
The three countries welcomed the on-going negotiations between ASEAN and China in view of achieving a rule-based, co-operative and effective Code of Conduct consistent with UNCLOS in the East Sea and encourage progress towards its early conclusion.