(VOVworld) – Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh said this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue was a place for countries to explain their policies, build trust, seek cooperative solutions, particularly in defense cooperation, and build a shared peaceful environment.

Defense Minister General Phung Quang Thanh. (Photo: VNA)

Regarding the East Sea, Minister Thanh said this is one of the biggest issues at this year’s dialogue, as the East Sea is a key international navigation route, exerting a big influence on economies inside and outside the region. Countries voiced their concern about the current instability in the East Sea and expressed hope that all parties will resolve their problems through peaceful measures, international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC). They called on ASEAN and China to work out a legally-binding Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) as soon as possible. Thanh said countries must respect international law and not take any unilateral action to create a fait accompli or use force to resolve territorial or sovereignty disputes.

Of the Vietnamese delegation’s contributions to the dialogue, Minister Thanh said Vietnam presented an accurate and objective account of the latest developments in the East Sea after China’s illegal placement of the Haiyang 981 oil rig in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf. Vietnam’s consistent stance is to resolve problems by dialogue, peaceful measures, international law, UNCLOS, and DOC. Thanh said that Vietnam showed restraint by not using force or threatening to use force, and using law enforcement and fishing boats to defend its sovereignty. He added that Vietnam is making every effort to find a way to resolve tensions through dialogues with China’s senior leaders.