By Bill Hayton
Confidence-building over the South China Sea isn’t easy, but a recent meeting in Vietnam shows that it is possible.
A half-day meeting in Vietnam on Wednesday could mark the beginning of a new confidence-building process in the South China Sea. The meeting, held in Vietnam’s oil city Vung Tau, involved delegates and observers from all the claimants including China, Taiwan, and little-heard Brunei.
Although the meeting was held behind closed doors, the agenda was made public. Delegates discussed practical steps toward implementing initiatives agreed to over a decade ago in the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea” between China and the countries of the Association of Southeast Nations. Time was spent on freedom of navigation, environmental protection, joint development, and maritime connectivity. Perhaps most interestingly, the final session discussed “institutional arrangements for consultation/negotiation and implementation of cooperative activities.”
The event was organized by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam – the foreign ministry’s think tank – on the sidelines of its annual South China Sea conference. Participants included government officials from Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as locally-based diplomats from Brunei, Taiwan, and Indonesia. There were no Chinese or Philippine governmental delegates but several senior academics with direct connections to ministries in both countries did take part.
As might be expected, Vietnam was well represented. Senior officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, fisheries, and defense took part along with officers from the navy and coastguard. The strong delegation suggests Vietnam is making a serious effort to create and institutionalize a process of practical confidence-building in the South China Sea. The question is whether the other claimants want to do the same.
Read the full story at The Diplomat