Asia has a responsibility to resolve Vietnam-China sea dispute – Nguyen Tan Dung-ANN emerges as the largest global network 

 by Zacki Jabbar in Hanoi,Vietnam-September 25, 2014, 12:00 pm

Nguyen Tan Dung

Vietnam says that the entire Asian community  and not  just the  ten member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has a   responsibility in resolving the South China sea oil rig dispute between  his country and China.

 The Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung in an exclusive interview with the Asia News Network (ANN) at his  office in Hanoi last week said that peace and security in the East Sea (as opposed to  the term South China Sea used by Beijing ) should be a shared concern of the whole of Asia if it valued  global  peace." Maritime security,peace and stability should concern not just ASEAN, but Asia as well as the broader  international community."

 Proposing the establishment of a code of conduct by which territorial disputes could be resolved,he noted that the Six Point Principle issued by ASEAN required all parties to abide by international law,including the 1982 United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"ASEAN and China assisted by other Asian countries must  take responsibility  to maintain peace,security and freedom  of navigation.We,must accelerate the negotiation process on the Code of Conduct and implementation of the Declaration  on the East Sea," Dung emphasized.

The ASEAN Economic Community comprising around 600 million people and a total GDP of US$ 8000 billion, to be implemented by the end of 2015,he observed would give a boost to Vietnam’s development and the integration process, but there were challenges like sustainable development which needs to be addressed.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam,had successfully  transformed from  a centrally planned economy  to a market economy with a  growth rate of 5.8 percent.Its target for 2015 was 6.2 per cent and a 6.5 percent GDP growth between 2016 and 2020.

Congratulating  ANN Editors and journalists from 19 newspapers including "The Island", representing 21 countries, for  conducting  what he described as an annual meeting in Hanoi  earlier in the day,Dung thanked the ANN  for its coverage of the World Economic Forum in  his country,while urging  continued focus on Vietnam’s political and economic progress  including a rise in Foreign Direct Investments.

Acknowledging that the ANN had emerged as the largest network of news organizations in  the world,he urged it to consistently push its content onto the global  stage.

The ANN comprises 21 newspapers in 19 countries including The Island (Sri Lanka) .The other mebers are China Daily (China), Dawn (Pakistan), Eleven Media Group (Myanmar) Kuensel (Bhutan) Rasmei Kampuchea (Cambodia) The Brunei Times (Brunei) The Cambodia Herald ( Cambodia) The China Post (Taiwan) The Daily Star (Bangladesh) The Yomuri Shimbun (Japan) The Japan News (Japan) The Jakarta Post ( Indonesia) The Kathmandu Post (Nepal) The Korea Herald (South Korea) The Nation ( Thailand) The Star (Malaysia) The Statesman (India) The Strait Times (Singapore) Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines) Sin Chew Daily ( Malaysia) Viet Nam News (Vietnam) and Vientiane Times ( Laos ).