Peace Update: Vietnam & PHL agree for a peaceful and multilateral approach to settle territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Vietnam expressed support for the Philippine proposal for a zone of peace, freedom, friendship, and cooperation in the West Philippine Sea.

"I think what we committed to do was we embraced the approach of, one, is looking for a peaceful resolution; two, is we want to pursue a rules-based regime; third is we want to do this on a multilateral basis; and fourth is we want to observe the DOC [Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea] and we also are looking for incorporating the Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship and Cooperation (ZOPFFC) framework that the Philippines had introduced so that it can further strengthen the implementing guidelines of the DOC," said del Rosario.

Vietnam also clarified during the bilateral meeting that the recently signed agreement between China and Vietnam for bilateral negotiations on the South China Sea only concerns areas not contested by the Philippines."
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