The Philippine Territory

MANILA - The Philippines and Vietnam both agreed to cooperate to uphold the rule of law over at the West Philippine Sea during the 7th Meeting of the Philippines-Viet Nam Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in Manila today.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, this morning to discuss "cooperative initiatives in defense and security, maritime and ocean cooperation, trade and investments, and agriculture."

Both Vietnam and the Philippines are engaged in a territorial dispute with China, with the Philippines elevating the issue to international arbitration.



Del Rosario said Vietnam has been very supportive of arbitration and that they are discussing how to cooperate more closely with them on this regard.

"Vietnam has been very clear in terms of advocating the position...that arbitration is very much a mechanism that should be respected being a mechanism of international law," Del Rosario told reporters in an ambush interview.

Del Rosario said both the Philippines and Vietnam will try to persuade other Asean leaders to start negotiations on the regional code of conduct on the South China Sea, during their scheduled consultation with China this August in Thailand.

He said that at this point, consultations are not enough and negotiations are needed to expedite the conclusion of the COC.

Another high-level meeting, this time with defense ministers of both the Philippines and Vietnam, are scheduled in a couple of weeks. They are set to discuss issues on information sharing and maritime domain.
 
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