(VOVWORLD) -Vietnam shares concern about the ongoing complicated developments in the East Sea, upholds the principled stance of ASEAN, and urges partners when operating in the East Sea to respect these principles, especially international law and the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, to jointly build the East Sea into a sea of peace, stability, cooperation and development, said a senior Vietnamese diplomat.
 Ambassador Vu Ho, Acting Head of SOM ASEAN Vietnam leads the Vietnamese delegation to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Ambassador Vu Ho, Acting Head of Senior Officials Meeting SOM ASEAN Vietnam, on Wednesday, addressed ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Indonesia.
He called on partner countries to respect ASEAN’s centrality as well as the values and principles of the Forum's activities. On global and regional issues, Vu Ho suggested that the ARF participants harmonize their differences in order to promote a holistic and comprehensive approach to effectively respond to challenges.
At the meeting, countries voiced concern about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Korean Peninsula tensions, and Myanmar situation on peace, stability and development in the region. Participants called on relevant parties to exercise restraint, reduce tensions, strengthen dialogue, build trust, and resolve issues through peaceful means on the basis of international law.
Many countries expressed concern about the ongoing complicated developments in the East Sea, the strategic sea area, support for ASEAN's principled stance on the East Sea as well as upheld compliance with international law and efforts to build an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law.