Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh addresses the ASEAN-US Ministerial Meeting on September 10, 2020. (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

ASEAN countries agreed to accelerate implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) and cooperate in dealing with terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, border controls, and cyber-security threats. 

Participants emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation with external partners through ASEAN-led mechanisms and adopting five-year action plans for cooperation with Canada, China, India, and the Republic of Korea. 

The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and striving to build an effective, substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law and the 1982 UNCLOS.

They agreed that ASEAN should stick to its principled position, which emphasizes self-restraints and the peaceful settlement of all disputes on the basis of international law, in particular UNCLOS.