Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (Photo: VNA) Phnom Penh (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son led a Vietnamese delegation to attend the ASEAN Plus One, and ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meetings, and co-chaired the ASEAN-Republic of Korea (RoK) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Cambodia on August 4.
At these meetings, held within the framework of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-55), partners said they attached importance to their relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and support the bloc’s central role.
ASEAN and its partners agreed that dialogue and cooperation for peace, stability, sustainable development and prosperity are the focus of their relationship. Accordingly, the parties agreed to step up cooperation towards comprehensive and sustainable post-pandemic recovery.
ASEAN expected its Northeast Asian partners to cooperate more in public health, digital transformation, innovative technology, smart infrastructure, human resource quality, and green and sustainable development.
The countries also showed their hope to strengthen cooperation in other areas like climate change response, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable use of oceans and marine resources.
Regarding the international and regional situations, the parties expressed concern about the ongoing complexities and tensions in the region. Therefore, all stressed the need to exercise restraint and avoid actions that may complicate the situation and negatively affect the peaceful and stable environment of the region.
ASEAN countries also affirmed their support for the "One China" policy and stressed the importance of abiding by the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.
Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son emphasised the importance of frank dialogue, and sincere and quality-oriented cooperation in regional cooperation mechanisms. The minister said that ASEAN mechanisms are working, making effective contributions to regional trust and cooperation.
Regarding the East Sea, Vietnam and other ASEAN countries once again affirmed their stance over the years, striving to build the East Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation in the region and in the world. Towards this goal, ASEAN called on all parties to restrain, avoid complicating the situation, and settle disputes on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
For the Myanmar issue, ASEAN countries said they are exerting efforts to seek a solution to implement ASEAN leaders’ Five-Point Consensus, and working with Myanmar to seek measures to address the current crises.
The ASEAN countries also stressed the importance of dialogue in approaching the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, especially in the face of recent ballistic missile tests in this area. ASEAN believed that the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula should be based on self-restraint, mutual respect, and especially the serious and full implementation of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Earlier the same day, the Vietnamese FM met with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi, during which they agreed to continue exchanging information and experience in issues of mutual concern, particularly the maintenance of peace, stability and cooperation in the region./.
