(VOVWORLD) - The 36th ASEAN Summit is a success and ASEAN members’ cohesion spirit is clearly shown, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairman of ASEAN for 2020.
 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairman of ASEAN for 2020, speaks at an international press conference on June 26, in Hanoi, after the 36th ASEAN Summit (Photo: VGP) |
At an international press conference on Friday in Hanoi, the Prime Minister emphasized that ASEAN held an online summit for the first time in its 50 years of establishment, but all ASEAN leaders were present and reached an absolute consensus on major issues of the bloc. This is an evidence of ASEAN’s solidarity.
The Summit agreed on 5 issues: Pushing back the epidemic and promoting intra-regional cooperation; Continuing to build a strong community by 2025, vision to 2030; Expanding and deepening ASEAN relations with partners on the basis of mutual respect; Preserving a peaceful environment for cooperation for development; and Promoting the rule of law to address differences in the region.
The Prime Minister told reporters of ASEAN’s viewpoints in the context of strategic competition between world powers. He said, “ASEAN always wants an Asia-Pacific region of peace, stability, cooperation, and co-development and certainly does not want to choose who to side with. Mutually beneficial cooperation and development are for future regional peace and partners, including China and the United States, who we are very interested in. Vietnam strongly wants China and the United States to overcome differences to build trust and promote cooperation for the common interests of the world.”
The Prime Minister also emphasized that peace, regional security in general and the East Sea in particular are the common interests of the ASEAN community. Therefore, over the years, ASEAN has made contributions by maintaining dialogue, mechanism, regulations and codes of conduct in the East Sea.
He said “This Summit reaffirmed ASEAN's determination to contribute to building the East Sea into a sea area of cooperation, development, security and safety. The Covid-19 epidemic has disrupted discussions on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea. In this context, Vietnam and ASEAN have worked with related parties to refrain from activities that complicate the situation at sea. We have strictly implemented the Declaration on the Code of Conduct (DOC) in the East Sea and effectively negotiated COC in accordance with international law so that the East Sea will always be a sea area of peace and development.”