Sea Control - Sea Control 409 - Why UNCLOS Matters to Vietnam with Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh

Episode Date: February 2, 2023

Link: After 40 Years, UNCLOS Remains Significant to Vietnam, by Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh, Fulcrum, September 20, 2022. 

Hey folks, it's Jared. Today I'm joined by Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh to discuss the significance of unclosed to Vietnam. This episode was edited and produced by Joshua Gruber. SimSec is looking for a volunteer to join our technical team and support our web operations. We are looking for someone with a background in WordPress implementation and support, as well as knowledge in web hosting and networking. Some knowledge of identity management and security operations is also helpful, so please reach out to content at simsec.org to share your background and discuss. us. I'd like to pause here to highlight our local chapters, whether you're in South Korea, Egypt, Singapore, France, New York, India, or the Caribbean. Chances are there's a SimSec local chapter near you. Find a full listing of local chapters and contact information on our website

at simsec.org, so if you're interested, please reach out. Finally, I want to take the opportunity to recommend our partners in the SimSec Podcast Network, The Bilge Pumps. You can find Alex, Jamie, Drack, and a pile of Iron Brew bottles wherever you download your podcasts. With that, Kimbers Mudd. You're listening to Sea Control, hosted by the Center for International Maritime Security. Aloha, Shoemates, and welcome back aboard Sea Control. My guest today is Thu Nguyen Hoang An, and we're going to be discussing her contribution to Fulcrum's series, Why UNCLOS Matters, entitled, After 40 Years, UNCLOS Remained Significant

to Vietnam. Thu, welcome. Could you tell the listeners a little bit more about your background, please? Yes, sure. Hi, Jess and the audience of Sea Controls. Thank you for having me today. My name is Thu, and currently I am a graduate student at the European University Institute, majoring in international governance. Previously, I was a senior research fellow at the Vanguard Team Tanks, and apart from studying at the university, I am also a freelance writer and researcher. My research interests include maritime security and international relations of the Asia-Pacific. Well, thank you again for coming on. As a reminder to listeners, all opinions are our own and not reflective of any institution with which we might be otherwise associated.

So, Thu, let's start with how large is Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and what is contained within that EEZ? Well, the exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, of Vietnam is more than a million square kilometers. and Vietnam claims its eases as well as other maritime entitlements in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. And the eases of Vietnam encompasses waters extending up to 200 nautical miles from its baseline. What is Vietnam's historical relationship with UNCLOS? To begin with, UNCLOS is an international agreement that sets out a legal framework for most maritime activities.

And Vietnam, as a coastal state, clearly has a strong interest in UNCORPS. Vietnam participated in the negotiation and drafting process of UNCORPS. And when UNCORPS was open for signatures on December 10, 1982, Vietnam was also among the first 117 countries to sign the convention. And after becoming a signatory to UNCORPS, Vietnam has been a responsible member and has made significant efforts to endorse and implement UNSCOTS provisions. Within Southeast Asia itself, Vietnam has encouraged other countries in the region to respect and comply with UNSCOTS. Especially during its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2020,

Vietnam stressed many times the importance of UNSCOTS in dealing with maritime disputes and maintaining regional security. And more recently, Vietnam, together with Germany, initiated the creation of UNCLOS Groups of Friends in order to increase cooperation between like-minded countries on common maritime goals. So I wasn't aware of the UNCLOS Group of Friends. Can you tell us a little bit more about what that organization is or who belongs to it and then what they do? Yes, sure. So, following the initiative launched by Vietnam and Germany, the UNCLOS Group of Friends has received strong support from UN member states and was finally established on June 30, 2021. Up to the present, the group has around 115 members with 12 core members. Members of the group represent all geographical regions and socio-economic conditions. Ambassador Đăng Đinh Quỷ, who is the permanent representative of Vietnam to the UN, talk about the purpose of the UNCOS groups of France,

which is to contribute to an increasing understanding of UNCOS and to share good practices in applying UNCOS to ocean governance, maritime delimitations and peaceful settlements of dispute. Well, so far, the topics that members they have been sharing include such as marine pollution, unsustainable ocean use practices, climate change, sea level rise, and so on. In general, it is hoped that the group of friends on UNCLOS will develop to become a forum for exchanges on maritime issues of mutual interest. How did Vietnam leverage UNCLOS during its ASEAN chairmanship in 2020?

During its ASEAN chairmanship in 2020, Vietnam at several meetings emphasized the relevance of UNCORPS as the legal basis for dispute settlement in the South China Sea. As you might already be aware, the South China Sea issue has long been a sticking point for ASEAN because countries are disputing over their sovereign rights and territories. So Vietnam was really vocal in promoting a common perception among ASEAN member states on the South China Sea issue. It requested countries in the region to uphold international law, including UNCLOS, and to maintain self-restraint in the conduct of all maritime-related activities. Well, in terms of results, under Vietnam's chairmanship, in both the 36th and 37th ASEAN Chairman's Statements, countries in the region stated by common consent that unclass were the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdictions, and legitimate interests over the seas. Another important point to highlight is that in 2020, Vietnam, as the chair of ASEAN, also pushed forward the full and effective implementation of the ASEAN-China declarations on the Condos of Parties in the South China Sea, or people usually call it DOC. For those who don't know, DOC establishes the basis principle and common norms for all parties to handle the South China Sea issue. And finally, Vietnam also encouraged negotiations toward the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea,

that is consistent with international law and including UNCLOS. The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to reduce the risk of conflict in the South China Sea and also to increase cooperative interactions between ASEAN member states and China. How has Vietnam reformed its domestic laws in accordance with UNCLOS? Since joining the UNCLOS in 1982, Vietnam has reformed and improved its domestic laws significantly in line with UNCLOS. So, for example, in 2012, the government adopted the Law of the Sea, which harmonized the domestic law with unclassified provisions. And this Law of the Sea establishes the breadth of Vietnam's maritime zone, governs operations in these zones, and also plans maritime economic developments. And in addition to that, Vietnam has also introduced and revised other specialized laws as well.

For instance, the 2015 law on Marines and Iceland resources or the 2017 law on fishery. And in terms of management, Vietnam also established the Vietnam Co-Guard in 1998, the Militias and Self-Defense Force in 2009, and the Fisheries Surveillance Force in 2014. Now, what are Vietnam's ongoing maritime disputes and then how is Vietnam using UNCLOS to resolve them? So, at the moment, Vietnam is a major claimant state in the South China Sea. It has territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands, which are located in the southeastern part of the South China Sea. This dispute is among Vietnam and countries such as China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, and Malaysia. China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim the entire Spratly Islands based on historical evidence, while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei claim certain parts of the islands.

Vietnam also disputes over the Paracel Islands with China and Taiwan, and the Paracel Islands are located in the northwestern part of the South China Sea. Both the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands have rich natural resources and fishing areas. Because of this reason, these maritime disputes are of great importance to Vietnam because they affect Vietnam's sovereign rights, Vietnamese fishermen's and the exploration activities for commercial oil and gas. In reply to your second question, the Vietnamese government has been using UNCLOS as the main legal foundation to address many of its maritime disputes, because UNCLOS standardizes claims over maritime entitlements and sovereign rights of its signatory. Also, under Article 287, UNCLOS provides Vietnam and other states with different forums to settle their dispute, including the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court of Justice, and mechanisms under Annas 7 and Annas 8. Vietnam has been trying to negotiate and reach a consensus with other states

by using these forms and uncaused provisions in general. Well, an example is when Vietnam reached an agreement with its neighbor, Thailand, in 1997 on their delimitations of the continental self and delimitation of the exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Thailand. As I was just reading there, it's like I think there's negotiations ongoing to establish a new treaty underneath UNCLAWS that would govern areas beyond the EEZ, which Vietnam would probably have significant interest in if you talk about straddling stocks in the South China Sea. What role is Vietnam playing in those negotiations? To provide our audience with the background, negotiations have been conducted to establish an international legally binding instrument under a cost on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdictions. These are also known as the BBNG negotiations or the High Seas Treaty.

Discussion on this treaty actually had been going on for a long time, but the negotiation process just officially started in 2018, and August this year marked the fifth session of the negotiations. Not only representatives from countries around the world, but also civil society organizations had been participating in the process. So, Vietnam considers the BBNG negotiations as one of the most important environmental negotiations. It also supports the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. During the BBNG negotiations, Vietnam gave significant proposals and contributions to the draft of the BBNG Treaty. It also contributed to the negotiations on issues that directly relate to Vietnam's rights and interests at sea. Vietnam also faces other non-traditional maritime security challenges, such as but not limited to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing or IUU fishing, climate change and environmental degradations. Just to give you a better idea about these issues, I will first take IUU fishing as an example.

So, IUU fishing for a long time has been a persistent issue facing Vietnam. There have been a number of Vietnamese vessels that got caught when encroaching into the waters of other countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The reasons why IUU fishing is prevalent in Vietnam are varied. First, because there is an increasing demand for seafood. Second, illegal catches can bring huge profits to Vietnamese fishermen with a low risk of being caught. Third, the marine resources in local waters have been depleted. Finally, the monitoring, control and surveillance system of Vietnam is relatively weak. As a consequence of these reasons, IUU fishing has been flourishing in Vietnam.

And in October 2017, Vietnam even received a yellow card from the European Union because of its inadequate efforts to address IUU fishing. Another illegal activity at sea facing Vietnam is petroleum smuggling. which usually occurs in Vietnamese waters bordering Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Foreign vessels at these maritime borders tend to transport and sell petroleum to Vietnamese fishing boats. And finally, climate change has also been a top concern in Vietnam these days. It is because Vietnam is already affected by extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones. Especially since the country has a long coastline of 3,260 km, it is also threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change. And clearly, the lives of a large number of Vietnamese populations living in 28 coastal provinces will also be severely affected.

I'm sorry, that's all that we have time for today. I'd like to thank my guest, Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh. Where can we find you online and what are you working on next? You can contact me on Twitter at 2 underscore Nguyen 1210 or via email to nguyen.ha219 at gmail.com. And for the upcoming projects, I plan to research more about the non-traditional maritime security issues of South Asia, such as piracy or IUU fishing. Well, thank you again for joining us. Listeners, thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. © transcript Emily Beynon © BF-WATCH TV 2021