The contents of the recent Viet Nam-China agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues are in total conformity with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and Viet Nam's consistent standpoint on the peaceful settlement of East Sea disputes.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi affirmed this in Ha Noi yesterday while answering reporters' questions. Several foreign newspapers commented that the agreement is a withdrawal from the DOC because Viet Nam and China agreed to address East Sea issues bilaterally, even for disputed areas between numerous sides.
According to Nghi, in this agreement, Viet Nam and China agreed to only solve sea-related disputes between them bilaterally and disputes that relate to other countries will be resolved through friendly talks and negotiations with the concerned parties (Point 3 of the Agreement).
He affirmed Viet Nam's consistent standpoint on the peaceful settlement of East Sea disputes, Additionally, issues on a regional or global scale should have suitable multilateral approaches, he said.
"Therefore, the opinion that the above-mentioned agreement is a withdrawal from the DOC is groundless," he stressed.
Nghi affirmed that the signing of the agreement reflected positive progress in the negotiation process on the settlement of sea issues.
The agreement defined basic principles guiding the settlement of disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measures on the basis of international law and with the interests of concerned parties being taken into consideration, he said.
To find a transitional or long-term solution for the East Sea dispute required efforts and goodwill from both sides, he added.
The two sides should seriously implement the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the DOC as mentioned in the agreement and respect the principles of international law, said Nghi.
Regarding reporters' questions on information relating to the content of the draft Law of the Sea, the spokesman said that like other coastal countries, Viet Nam's desire to regulate maritime socio-economic, security and defence activities was a necessary step in line with international practices, under the purview of national construction and development.
Like other bills, the process of creating, considering, collecting ideas and approving the Law of the Sea had been implemented in conformity with Vietnamese legal regulations, he said.
The NA would consider the various drafts and decide which bill should be put on the table and subsequently adopted, he said.
