ASEAN, CHINA VOW CLOSER COOPERATION VS COVID

LEADERS from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China expressed commitment to enhance health cooperation to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The leaders vowed to address the pandemic through information exchange, sharing of best practices, capacity building of health personnel and vaccine research production.

The 26th Asean-China Senior Officials’ Consultation was held by videoconference for the first time on July 1 to review the progress in Asean-China Strategic Partnership and discuss its future direction, the Department

of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

The Philippines, in its capacity as country coordinator for Asean-China Dialogue Relations for 2018 to 2021, co-headed the meeting with China.

Assistant Secretary Junever Mahilum-West, director

general of Asean-Philippines and the Philippine temporary Senior Officials’ Meeting leader, represented the Philippine delegation while the Chinese delegation was led by Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong.

She noted that since the establishment of Asean- China Dialogue Partnership in 1991, mutually beneficial cooperation with China had expanded significantly across all three Asean Community pillars, namely political-security, economic and sociocultural.

In 2021, the Asean and China will commemorate 30 years of their relations.

The senior officials exchanged views on the developments in the region, including the collective aspiration to agree to an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China (West Philippine) Sea that will contribute to regional peace, security and stability, and is in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Asean and China also discussed maritime cooperation initiatives to further build trust and confidence in the region.

“As we approach the 30th anniversary of our relations in 2021, we look forward to more comprehensive mechanisms to advance Asean- China cooperation in various priority areas,” Mahilum-West said.

“We hope to maximize our engagements towards positive outcomes in our region. This important partnership has proven instrumental in collectively responding to and mitigating the effects of Covid- 19,” she added.

The meeting also highlighted 2020 as the Asean-China Year of Digital Economy Cooperation, with emphasis on initiatives to enhance digital connectivity, smart solutions, e-commerce, elearning and platforms to help support micro, small and medium enterprises to continue to boost economic growth, as well as the application of information and communications technologyenabled responses to Covid-19.