US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Photo: AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo affirmed on June 28 that the US welcomes the vision statementof ASEAN leaders, which was adopted at the recent 36th ASEAN Summit.
The diplomat tweeted “The United States welcomesASEAN Leaders’ insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in linewith international law, including UNCLOS. China cannot be allowed to treat theSCS as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon.”
The South China Sea is known in Vietnam as theEast Sea.
He also included a link to the ASEAN Leaders'Vision Statement on a Cohesive And Responsive ASEAN: Rising Above ChallengesAnd Sustaining Growth.
The 36th ASEAN Summit was held via videoconferencing on June 26 under the chair of Vietnamese Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc. Vietnam is the Chair of ASEAN in 2020.
ASEAN leaders affirmed the importance ofmaintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigationand aviation in the East Sea.
They also emphasised the need to fully andeffectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in East Sea(DOC) and soon build a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line withinternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS).
The bloc’s leaders expressed concerns over landreclamations, recent developments, activities and serious incidents, which haveeroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace,security and stability in the region.
They reaffirmed the need to enhance mutual trustand confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that wouldcomplicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability and avoidactions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue peacefulresolution of disputes in accordance with universally recognised principles ofinternational law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.
They also emphasised the importance ofnon-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities byclaimants and all other states that could further complicate the situation andescalate tensions in the East Sea.
Founded in 1967, the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) groups 10 member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand andVietnam./.
VNA
