Maintaining peace and stability in the East
Sea is necessary for the whole region and the benefit of coastal countries and
related nations, stated a declaration issued at an international seminar on the
East Sea that wrapped up in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday.

According to the declaration, participants agreed that the East Sea is a
multilateral issue, from maintaining peace and stability, to ensuring free
travel and the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in
the East Sea (DOC), signed by ASEAN member countries and China in October 2002.

The
declaration affirmed that China’s claim to territorial sovereignty with the
“nine dotted line” or “U-shaped line” that accounts for 80 per cent of the East
Sea was irrelevant in the current context and was criticised by the
international community.

Concerned parties needed to keep to their commitments and deal with territorial
and legal disputes in the East Sea through peaceful negotiations in conformity
with international rules and law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea and the five principles of peaceful coexistence, strengthening efforts
to build trust, multilateral co-operation on maritime safety, scientific
research, crime prevention, and looking towards the signing of the Code of the
Conduct on the East Sea (COC), the declaration said.

The
future signing of the COC would be a joint effort by ASEAN and China in a
positive move towards peace and stability in the region, according to the
declaration.

Not only
regional countries, but also powerful nations outside the region such as
Australia, India, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and the United States
which play a useful role in maintaining the current situation needed to support
the DOC, it said.

The
declaration added that ASEAN and China should continue to take positive steps
under the DOC and speed up efforts towards the signing of the COC.

The
ASEAN Secretariat may be more effective in dealing with conflicts, it said,
adding that ASEAN must adhere to the principle of unity, solidarity and
unanimity in co-ordinating and developing the bloc’s position in dialogues with
its partners related to East Sea issues and discussions about the COC.

The
ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus mechanism should be viewed as an
important forum to accelerate constructive commitments between ASEAN and its
partners in strategic, security and defence issues that have an impact on the
region.

Themed,
Prospects of Co-operation and Convergence of the Issues and Dynamics in the East
Sea, the seminar drew the participation of 150 delegates, including scholars,
researchers from Australia, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, the US and
Viet Nam, and representatives from embassies of ASEAN countries, China, Russia
and the US.

In his
closing speech, A B Mahapatra, Director of India’s Centre for Asian Strategic
Studies, affirmed that dealing with disputes and building trust in the context
of global independence and complex conflicts were urgent needs.

In that
spirit, building capacity and trust in the East Sea and institutionalising
dialogues on issues that may cause differences would provide necessary support
for the Asia-Pacific region, he finished.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News