Vietnam backs Phl in sea row arbitration

MANILA, Philippines - Vietnam backed yesterday the Philippines’ arbitral proceedings against China’s excessive claims in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea.

Speaking to reporters, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said: “They (Vietnam) are very supportive of that (arbitral proceedings) and were discussing the possibilities that we may be able to cooperate more closely with them in terms of the settlement of the dispute.”

Del Rosario and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh co-chaired the 7th Meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) that was convened yesterday.

Del Rosario said the Philippines raised during the meeting that it would try to persuade the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a position on the Code of Conduct (COC) and quickly seek a negotiating meeting for its conclusion.

“On the COC, we said that we would try to persuade the ASEAN to take a position or we want them to take a giant step with China,” he said.

“It is supposed to be just a consultation meeting, but we want to be able to bring to a negotiation stage, so that is something that we decided on among ourselves that consultation probably is not enough. We need to talk about negotiations.

“We want to convince the others that it would be more fruitful if we try to seek a negotiating meeting very quickly after the consultation.”

Both the Philippines and Vietnam are claimants of territories in the South China Sea.

China has proposed to Vietnam a joint development in the South China Sea.

However, Vietnam has taken the same position as the Philippines that joint ventures are possible but must be consistent with its laws.

The Philippines and Vietnam have expressed cooperation in the area of maritime security to take a stand in moving forward the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

Vietnam has been very clear in terms of advocating the position that as part of a peaceful resolution in accordance with international law, the arbitration must be respected as a mechanism of international law.

The Philippines and Vietnam also discussed information sharing and the meeting of their defense ministers.

At the 7th meeting of the JCBC, the Philippines and Vietnam agreed to cooperate in ensuring the rule of law in the West Philippine Sea/East Sea, peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law including UNCLOS, implementing the DOC, and expediting the early conclusion of a regional COC.