ASEAN-China relations and the East Sea issue dominated a special meeting of foreign ministers of ASEAN and China in Kunming, in the Chinese province of Yunnan on June 14.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh led the Vietnamese delegation to the event which was co-chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy PM Minh affirmed that Vietnam and ASEAN attach importance to ties with China, and underscored the importance of the ASEAN-China strategic partnership to peace, security and prosperity in Asia-Pacific.
He proposed boosting bilateral cooperation in effectively realising the 2016-2020 Action Plan, focusing on the priority fields of the economy, trade, investment, connectivity, environment, climate change, agriculture, and food and water resource security particularly in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
According to him, joint work should be intensified to deal with regional security challenges, even in the East Sea and thorough preparations should be made to celebrate the 25 th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations, particularly the commemorative summit slated for September in Laos.
Expressing concern over complicated developments in the East Sea and their obstacles, the Deputy PM called on ASEAN and China to increase dialogues and cooperation to deal with the issue while complying with commitments by concrete actions, particularly in the peaceful settlement of disputes in line with the law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
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