Within the framework of the 48th ASEAN Summit, on the afternoon of May 8, Politburo Member, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended a closed-door meeting of ASEAN leaders with the main topic of discussion being response to energy crises arising from geopolitical tensions and lessons learned for ASEAN.
Leaders shared concerns about the profound and comprehensive impact of the complex geopolitical upheavals in recent times, especially the conflict in the Middle East, on the region.
To cope with the impact of the crisis, ASEAN leaders agreed that it is necessary to strengthen solidarity and promote cooperation to enhance strategic autonomy.
At the same time, ASEAN needs to have a strong common voice on key international issues, including security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation, with the goal of ensuring peace, security, stability and development of the region.
Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung shared the assessments of ASEAN leaders and emphasized that in an increasingly uncertain strategic environment, ASEAN cannot only adapt to change but must go ahead, lead, and shape change. Accordingly, the Prime Minister made three key proposals for ASEAN in the new context.
First, ASEAN needs to take the lead in maintaining rules, strengthening trust in international relations, by persistently promoting multilateralism and international law supremacy. Accordingly, ASEAN needs to actively contribute to maintaining security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the world as well as in the region.
In the East Sea, ASEAN needs to make efforts with China to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and soon reach a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) effective, substantive and in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) according to an agreed roadmap.
Second, in a volatile world, ASEAN needs to anticipate change by proactively preventing and managing crises.
From the Middle East lesson, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung proposed that ASEAN needs to promote the effectiveness of existing mechanisms, especially cooperation frameworks with partners, to promote dialogue, build trust, and deploy preventive diplomacy. Dispute resolution mechanisms and tools of the ASEAN Charter and the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (TAC) need to be effectively exploited to promote dialogue and find solutions to different issues.
Third, enhancing strategic autonomy and promoting the central role is the only option to help ASEAN stand firm and overcome the multifaceted challenges today. Faced with major power competition and side-by-side pressure, ASEAN needs to strengthen solidarity, unity and balanced behavior with partners.
ASEAN must maintain its central role, shape the agenda at ASEAN-led mechanisms, and continue to expand its development space by promoting foreign relations with potential partners.
