VietNamNet Bridge – ASEAN naval chiefs brought up the conflicts in the East Sea and recommended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take the initiative to ensure marine security at the fifth ASEAN Naval Chiefs’ Meeting (ANCM-5), which opened in Hanoi on July 27.

Vice Admiral Nguyen Van Hien, Deputy Defense Minister and Commander of the Vietnam People’s Navy presided over the meeting.
Addressing the event, Lieut. Gen. Do Ba Ty, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, said the meeting took place amidst recent developments in the region’s security and with special attention given to maritime security.

Ensuring a maritime environment of peace, stability, safety and harmony to serve sustainable economic development is the common aspiration of member nations and a core factor to link and promote cooperation in ASEAN, he said.

The Vietnam Ministry of Defense and the Vietnam People’s Army strongly support cooperation among navies of ASEAN countries in bilateral and multilateral channels, as well as expansion of cooperation between ASEAN navies and partner countries, the Chief of the General Staff affirmed.

The Vietnamese side welcomes forms of cooperation such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, joint patrols, establishment of hotlines between naval units, information exchange, joint training to and joint exercises, in order to increase response capability to non-traditional security challenges of the region, Ty added.

Vice Admiral Nguyen Van Hien, Deputy Defense Minister and Commander of the Vietnam People’s Navy, said that with the theme, “ASEAN Naval Cooperation for Maritime Peace and Security”, ANCM-5 took place in the context where security in the East Sea has become complicated, with violations of national sovereignty over some ASEAN countries causing concerns for many regional and non-regional countries, especially violations of international law such as the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Hien noted that the situation is not ideal for any nation in the region, including landlocked countries.

ASEAN navies are law enforcement forces, ensuring security at sea, he said, stressing ASEAN member countries’ task of protecting national sovereignty and obligations of cooperating and coordinating at sea in the spirit of solidarity and friendship.

Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh welcomed ASEAN Naval Chiefs and stressed that ANCM-5 promoted co-operation in defence for the goal of peace, contributing to building the ASEAN Community by 2015. The meeting reached an important advance in accelerating activities of co-operation among ASEAN navies, he said.

Thanh also emphasised the significance of the meeting, saying that it took place in the spirit of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and partners (ADMM+) and discussed issues to maintain peace, stability and development in the region, including co-operation in maritime security, anti-terrorism, search and rescue, and humanitarian activities.

Regarding the East Sea, Thanh said ASEAN countries faced traditional and non-traditional security challenges that required co-operation efforts of navies of the regions.

He affirmed Vietnam's stance, noting that it always defined protecting territorial sovereignty parallel with maintaining an environment of peace, stability and strengthening friendship with neighbouring countries in order to promote comprehensive co-operation and national development.

All disputes in the East Sea needed to be solved by peaceful measures and through negotiations and talks on the basis of international laws, specifically the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and advancing to the Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China, he said.

Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, Malaysian Naval Commander, said that it is necessary to promote cooperation among ASEAN naval forces in sharing information on marine security.

General Alexander Pama, Deputy Commander of the Philippine naval forces, called ASEAN to support the viewpoint of solving disputes by bilateral and multilateral channels.

General Nyan Tun, Deputy Commander of the naval forces of Myanmar, said that cooperation in marine security and harmonizing interests are the wishes of peace-loving nations.

Vice Admiral Marsetio - Deputy Commander of the Indonesian naval forces, suggested a specific roadmap to promote cooperation through the open ASEAN Naval Chiefs’ Meeting. Indonesia also agreed with the proposals of setting up an information sharing system and the ASEAN officer training centre.

The Commander of Singaporean naval forces, Ng Chee Peng said that joint patrol between Singapore and some countries to prevent piracy was satisfactory. “We have set up ASEAN portal on marine security and we would like to invite ASEAN naval forces to join to share information,” he said.

The naval chief of Brunei proposed to extend this meeting to partners of ASEAN.

The meeting agreed with the common view on cooperative potential between ASEAN navies and reached consensus on documents, including orientations for cooperation between ASEAN navies, exchanges between ASEAN young naval officers and the action program for 2011-2013.

During the meeting (July 27-29), ASEAN naval chiefs will have bilateral meetings and pay visits to some naval units of Vietnam.

The meeting welcomed Brunei as the host for ANCM-6 in 2012.

This year’s meeting drew the participation of naval chiefs of nine ASEAN member countries and the Lao military attaché in Vietnam.

On the same day, Lt-Gen Do Ba Ty, chief of the General Staff of the Viet Nam People's Army, met with Rear Admiral Ng Chee Peng, chief of the Singapore Navy.

Phuong Loan