June 14, 2024
HANOI – Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Vũ has called on member states to continue implement the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in a spirit of goodwill.
While addressing the 34th meeting of UNCLOS (SPLOS-34), held in New York from June 10-14, he emphasised the role and importance of the convention as the ‘Constitution of Oceans’ – a comprehensive legal document that regulates all activities of countries in terms of their maritime activities.
It forms the basis for the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goal on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources.
He highlighted several challenges they are facing, including marine pollution, over-exploitation of resources, the development of new marine technologies and the emergence of various types of crimes at sea, escalating regional tensions and unilateral actions by countries that threaten maritime safety and security.
Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), the head of the Vietnamese delegation suggested member countries implement maritime policies responsibly and legally, so they can work together to ensure peace, stability, prosperity and sustainable development.
Adding that a peaceful and a stable environment to serve the sustainable development in the East Sea can only be guaranteed when countries establish their maritime zones in accordance with the 1982 UNCLOS and seriously exercise their sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction under the convention, as well as maintaining restraint to jointly solve disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the UN Charter and the UNCLOS.
Vũ stressed that Việt Nam always strives to work with regional countries to promote respect for the convention, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and negotiate in order to achieve a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), consistent with international law.
The official also said that the agencies formed under the convention all made important contributions to establishing legal order in the maritime and ocean fields, maintaining maritime peace and security ; referring to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), and the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
He affirmed the role of ITLOS in the peaceful settlement of disputes related to the application and interpretation of the convention and called on member states to seriously implement its judgments and decisions as well as the dispute resolution mechanisms stipulated in the convention.
The Vietnamese delegation confirmed the importance of determining the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to delimiting boundaries between the continental shelves of member countries and the international ocean floor area, thus creating conditions for the full and effective implementation of the convention’s regulations on management and equitable sharing of benefits and mineral resources in this area.
On this basis, Việt Nam calls for practical measures to speed up the CLCS process of reviewing reports on the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles that have been submitted, he added.
Outside of the main meeting, the Vietnamese delegation met the UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, the ITLOS President, the CLCS President and representatives of foreign delegations, including the Philippines, Laos and Malaysia to exchange views on issues of mutual concern and promote cooperation.