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The 2-day event was jointly organized by the Diplomatic Academy and partner agencies in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province.

The opening ceremony was attended by Assoc. Prof. Le Hai Binh, Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Magazine, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet. Nearly 300 in-person delegates and more than 250 online delegates attended.

This conference gathered nearly 50 speakers who are prestigious experts from 23 countries and international organizations in total.

The 2-day event was jointly organized by the Diplomatic Academy and partner agencies in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province (Photo: VTC News).

In the opening remarks, the Acting Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Ambassador, Dr. Pham Lan Dung shared by choosing the venue for this year's conference in the beautiful city of Ha Long, which is also a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, the Organizing Committee wishes to convey the message of the mission of protecting the precious thing, which is peace, stability and common prosperity in the South China Sea, as well as showing its determination to find sustainable solutions for the region.

Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet gave a keynote speech, adding that the world is facing a major turning point, the transition to a multipolar and multi-center situation is unexpected, unpredictable and if not well controlled, can lead to disasters. Trust in current institutions and rules is gradually decreasing and then unilateral acts will prevail, ignoring the legitimate interests of the parties and the international community.

He assessed that this trend has been narrowing the space for dialogue, diplomacy, and cooperation; pushing the arms race and deterrence measures to the forefront of many countries' strategies. Today's competition between major countries is not only to compete for territory and waters for resources, to control trade, technology, and military capabilities but more importantly, to dominate the views and visions that will shape the international system in the future. The deputy Minister highly appreciated the theme for showing the current topicality and urgency.

Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet gave a keynote speech (Photo: baoquocte.vn).

In his speech, he also highlighted that the 30th anniversary of the official entry into force of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of UNCLOS as a comprehensive legal framework governing all activities at sea and ocean and as a basis for actions and cooperation at the national level. regional and global; therefore, the integrity of UNCLOS needs to be maintained. The nomination of the first candidate for the position of judge of the International Court of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the period of 2026-2035 reaffirms Vietnam's readiness to contribute to the activities of ITLOS and demonstrating a strong, consistent commitment to UNCLOS in particular and complying with the UN Charter and international law in general.

The 16th International Conference on the South China Sea includes 7 sessions on diverse topics, namely "Towards multipolarity: Hot peace, Cold war or Peaceful Co-existence?", "ASEAN's centrality at a difficult time: Staying strong or lying low", and "From the Red Sea to the South China Sea: Who's responsible for safety and freedom of navigation". There are also "Old Guard's Relevance: UNCLOS 30 years into force", "Revisit the obligations of non-use or threat to use of force for peaceful resolutions and conflict prevention", "Autonomous vehicles in the maritime domain: Can AI auto-correct?" and "Diplomacy, Defense or Deterrence: which path to peace?".

For its 16th year, the event added 2 introductory sessions, with important presentations by Judge Horinouchi Hidehisa from ITLOS and by leading officials from many countries, such as Catherine West, Secretary of State for the Indo-Pacific Region, UK Foreign Office and Development (FCDO), and so on.

On the sidelines of the Main Workshop, the Organizing Committee continued to organize the Young Leadership Program to search for young researchers and the next generation to study these important issues, hence the theme of "Young Generation and Marine Security."

Also, for the first time, the event implemented the ASEAN Roundtable to connect leading experts from Southeast Asia to discuss opportunities to promote regional cooperation.

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