Hanoi (VNA) - The 12th South China Sea InternationalConference, with the theme “Maintaining Peace and Cooperation through a Time ofTurbulence”, kicked off on November 16 in both the in-person and onlineformats.

Jointly held by the Diplomatic Academy ofVietnam (DAV), the Foundation for East Sea Studies (FESS), and the VietnamLawyers' Association, the two-day conference has attracted over 700 delegates,including nearly 60 prestigious experts from 30 nations, 12 ambassadors andrepresentatives from over 20 foreign representative offices in Vietnam, andnearly 100 domestic and foreign journalists.

In his welcome remarks, member of the PartyCentral Committee and Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said COVID-19 has createda lot of turbulence and revealed smouldering conflicts in societies, erodingtrust between nations and affecting peace and stability.

The East Sea situation is an unpredictablechallenge affecting peace, stability, and cooperation in the region, withproblems such as unilaterally interpreting international law that does notconform to the international community’s common standards and interests,geopolitical competition, and militarisation in the East Sea.

Son stressed the need for parties to step updialogue and win-win cooperation, seek peaceful solutions to differences andconflicts at sea on the basis of international law, and intensify cooperation toturn the East Sea into a sea of connectivity and cooperation instead ofcompetition and confrontation.

It is essential to proactively prevent the riskof unwanted clashes at sea, promote cooperation for economic recovery andmutual development, work together to protect natural resources, and seek thepeaceful settlement of overlapping claims in the East Sea in accordance withinternational law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

He proposed that countries continue promotingthe central role of ASEAN in the regional security structure, supporting theASEAN Vision on the Indo-Pacific Region, and creating favourable conditions forASEAN and China to soon finish negotiations over a Code of Conduction in theEast Sea (COC).

Parties involved should not conduct unilateralmilitary and civil activities that could change the status quo in the East Sea,he added.

Acting President of the DAV Pham Lan Dung said thisis the first time the conference has been organised in both the in-person andonline formats, with a record number of speakers invited from around the world.Another new feature is a special discussion session for young leaders, who areencouraged to share their opinions on the East Sea issue./.