TTLV: Cooperation among ASEAN countries in the East Sea issue (2002 - 2017)

1. Student's full name:Nguyen Dang Tuyen2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: August 5, 1988

4. Place of birth: Thai Binh

5. Decision on recognition of students No. 2769/QD-XHNV dated October 27, 2017 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

6. Changes in training process: No change

7. Thesis topic name:Cooperation among ASEAN countries in the East Sea issue (2002 - 2017)

8. Major:International Relations; Code:60 31 02 06

9. Scientific instructor: Dr. Nguyen Thanh Minh - Vietnam Coast Guard Command.

10. Summary of thesis results:

The thesis has mentioned the issue of cooperation between ASEAN countries in the East Sea issue in the period of 2002 - 2017 and updated information related to this issue up to 2019. In more than 50 years of formation and development, facing the ups and downs of the situation in the East Sea, but the trend is more complicated and unpredictable, ASEAN has increasingly recognized comprehensively and fully the complexity of the East Sea issue, making efforts to create institutions as a legal basis to promote cooperation in many areas in the East Sea issue between ASEAN countries such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), the Guidelines for the implementation of the DOC... In the period from 2002 to 2017, the areas of cooperation that received attention include: cooperation in resolving disputes over sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the East Sea, cooperation in maritime delimitation, cooperation in joint exploitation, cooperation in patrolling, and dialogue. cooperation in the field of maritime crime prevention and control and protection of marine resources and environment. Cooperation among ASEAN countries in these areas has achieved some positive results, contributing to maintaining a peaceful, stable, secure, safe and free environment for navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

However, the cooperation process in this period as well as in the coming time will be affected by many multi-dimensional factors such as the world and regional situation, the situation of sovereignty disputes, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the East Sea, the process of building the ASEAN Community, the process of building the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), the involvement of major external countries as well as the situation related to non-traditional security issues in the East Sea. Therefore, the prospect of cooperation between ASEAN countries on the East Sea issue in the coming time will still face many difficulties and challenges and it is difficult to achieve long-term progress; however, it can be hoped that the cooperative efforts of the parties will contribute to promoting trust, preventing conflicts to maintain peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, serving the socio-economic development of countries in the region as well as countries with interests in the East Sea.

Based on the assessments and evaluations of the current situation and prospects of cooperation, the thesis has made recommendations for Vietnam in each specific field of cooperation as well as strategic recommendations, often related to the East Sea issue, contributing to protecting the sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and interests, and national security of Vietnam.

11. Practical applicability: The thesis can be used as a reference for research and teaching on international relations.

12. Further research directions: Based on this research, it is possible to continue to conduct more comprehensive research on the cooperation situation between ASEAN countries on the East Sea issue since ASEAN was established in 1967 or to study the cooperation situation between ASEAN and China on the East Sea issue since ASEAN and China established a partnership.

13. Published works related to the thesis:

- Nguyen Dang Tuyen (2019), "International cooperation to develop marine economy",Proceedings of the National Workshop “Marine Economy: Potential and Policy Gaps”, Ministry of Finance.

- Nguyen Minh An (2017), “Singapore's attitude towards the East Sea issue”,Foreign Events and Figures Magazine (282), pp. 30 - 35.

- Thanh Tuyen (2017), “Some outstanding results of the 2017 Shangri-La Dialogue”,Foreign Events and Figures Magazine (282), pp. 54 - 59.

- Minh An (2016), “The 28th-29th ASEAN Summit and related conferences”,Foreign Events and Figures Magazine (number 273), pp. 45 - 51.

1. Full name: Nguyen Dang Tuyen. 2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: August 5, 1988 4. Place of birth: Thai Binh

5. Admission decision number: 2769/QD-XHNV Dated Oct 27^th2017 by Rector of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in academic process: No changes

7. Official thesis title: Cooperation among ASEAN members on East Sea (2002 - 2017)

8. Major: International Relations 9. Code:60 31 02 06

10. Supervisors: Dr. Nguyen Thanh Minh - Vietnam Coast Guard

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

The thesis has mentioned cooperation among ASEAN members on East Sea issue in the period of 2002 - 2017 and updated information related to this issue until 2019. For more than 50 years of establishment and development, in the face of the ups and downs of the East Sea situation, ASEAN has been increasingly aware of the complexity of the East Sea issue in a comprehensive way, and endeavored to create institutions as a legal basis to promote cooperation in many areas in the East Sea issue among ASEAN members, such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), Guidelines for the Implementation of the DOC... In the period from 2002 to 2017, the outstanding fields of cooperation are included: cooperation in resolving disputes over sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction rights in the East Sea; cooperation in maritime delimitation; cooperation in joint exploitation; cooperation in patrol, drill and crime prevention at sea; cooperation in protecting natural resources and marine environment. Cooperation among ASEAN members in these fields has achieved a variety of positive results, contributing to maintaining the environment of peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea.

However, the process of cooperation in this period as well as the coming time has been affected by many factors, namely the global and regional situation, the situation of disputes over sovereignty, sovereignty rights, jurisdiction rights in the East Sea, the process of building the ASEAN Community, the process of developing a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), the engagement activities of countries outside as well as the situation related to non-traditional security issues in the East Sea. Therefore, the prospect of cooperation among ASEAN members in the East Sea issue in the coming time will cope with many challenges that prevent ASEAN from reaching outstanding and practical achievements. In spite of that, the cooperative efforts of the countries will contribute to promoting trust and preventing conflicts to maintain peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea, serving the socio-economic development of the countries in the region as well as the countries with interests in the East Sea.

Based on the comments and assessments on the status and prospects of cooperation, the thesis has made recommendations for Vietnam in both specific areas of cooperation as well as strategic recommendations regarding the East Sea issue, contributing to the protection of Vietnam's sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, interests and national security.

12. Practical applicability, if any: The thesis can be used as a reference for research and teaching on international relations.

13. Further research directions, if any: Based on this research, it is possible to continue a more comprehensive study of the situation of cooperation among ASEAN members in the East Sea issue since ASEAN was established in 1967 or a study of the situation of cooperation between ASEAN with China in the East Sea issue since ASEAN and China established partnerships.

14. Thesis-related publications:

- Nguyen Dang Tuyen (2019), “International cooperation for marine economic development”,Proceedings of the National Workshop “Marine economy: Potentials and policy gaps”Finance Ministry.

- Nguyen Minh An (2017), “Singapore's attitude in the East Sea issue”,Journal of Foreign Characters and Events(vol282),paged 30 - 35.

- Thanh Tuyen (2017), “Some outstanding results of the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2017”,Journal of Foreign Characters and Events(vol 282), pages 54 - 59.

- Minh An (2016), “The 28^thand 29^thASEAN summits and related summits”,Journal of Foreign Characters and Events(vol 273), paged 45 - 51.