A Vietnamese representative to an ASEAN-EU security-defence workshop in Belgium has voiced the country’s protest against China’s “nine-dotted line” claim in the East Sea.

Colonel Vu Van Khanh from the I nstitute for Defence Strategy under the Ministry of Defence, reiterated Vietnam’s policy of solving all disputes arising in the East Sea by peaceful means in compliance with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.

In his speech, the Vietnamese speaker expressed concerns relating to uncertainties in several Southeast Asian countries, such as religious and racial conflicts in Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines and internal instability in Thailand and Cambodia.

Regarding maritime security, Vietnam hopes the EU to make positive contributions to satisfactorily settling the issue of China’s unilateral establishment of an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea and prevent similar actions in other regions, while sharing its experience and providing support for regional countries to deal with the issue, Khanh added.

The Brussels workshop, from March 11-14, is the first of its kind. It is o rganised by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Security and Defence College and the European Union Military Staff .

Representatives from defence agencies of member nations of the EU and ASEAN and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) discussed the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the Union’s intervention in external activities such as police intelligence, border patrol and marine control.

Participant also discussed the relations between the EU and ASEAN pertaining to marine security and safety as well as the prospect for their cooperation in Asia-Pacific.

CSDP is established based on the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. It is a major tool in the EU’s external relations policy helping the Union deploy its forces to settle crises in the world, especially in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Within the framework of the workshop, participants will be led to several security-defence models of the EU in the Netherlands.-VNA