JAKARTA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN should take initiative and better play its active role in ensuring the peace and security in the South China Sea, visiting Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said here Friday.
President Sang made the remarks when delivering his speech at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) headquarters here during his first ever visit to Indonesia. "Maritime security and safety and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea are important issues of common concern of the region and of all countries." Sang said in front of 200 foreign ambassadors and diplomats.
Sang said ASEAN needs to further ensure the values and effectiveness of the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) to maintain regional stability.
China and ASEAN countries in 2002 signed the DOC, which states that sovereign states should resolve territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means and through friendly consultations and negotiations.
"ASEAN should also proactively uphold and promote the common principles as have been enshrined in the statement on ASEAN Six- point Principles,"Sang added.
According to the president, the territorial claimants in the South China Sea should enhance dialogue and build confidence, settle the disputes in peaceful means by respecting for the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the early conclusion of the code of conduct in the South China Sea ( COC).
Sang arrived here Thursday for a two-day official visit at the invitation of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The two leaders agreed to lift bilateral ties to strategic partnership during the meeting.
Mom makes target weight to donate kidney to son
Feedback
RSS
