Vietnam border, seas, islands

Kuala Lumpur, January 8 (VNA) – A seminar on the Code of Conduct (COC) as a tool for peace in the East Sea will be held in Kuala Lumpur on January 13.

Bernama news agency quoted Kazi Mahmood, member of the event's organising board, as saying the seminar aims to deliberate and discuss how much of the COC should be a tool for peace and security for the ASEAN member states.

He reportedly cited experts’ view as saying the East Sea is an important shipping area rich in minerals and marine resources, and that the COC will cover all aspects such as security, ownership, respect of international laws, stability and future economic exploitation of the East Sea.

The official said the COC is important because it offers an opportunity for ASEAN to have a hand in the security dealings in the disputed seas.

Among the three main speakers, Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, will be talking on the COC. Meanwhile, Bunn Nagara, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, will speak on the East Sea in conflict; and Ang Chin Hup, a senior researcher at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, will talk about the economics of the East Sea conflict, the organising board said./.