PROGRAM

TENTATIVE AGENDA 

THE 13TH SOUTH CHINA SEA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE  

“Looking back to a brighter future” 

Hanoi, 18-19 November 2021

Venue: Building M, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, 69 Chua Lang, Hanoi

OPENING 

18 November 2021 (Thursday) –  8.30 A.M –  9.45 A.M (GMT+7)

Conference rooms, 2nd & 3rd Fl., Building M, DAV

8.30am – 8.50am

(GMT+7)

  • Pham Lan Dung, Acting President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam
  • H.E. Mr Pham Quang Hieu, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam

Keynote Session: Constructing a Cooperative and Connected Indo-Pacific

8.50am – 9.20am

(GMT+7)

9.20am – 9.45am

(GMT+7)

  • E. Mr. Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister of Australia, President and CEO of the Asia Society
  • E. Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia
  • E. Ms. Amanda Milling, Minister for Asia, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom
  • Q&A

DAY 1: LOOKING BACK 

18 November 2021 (Thursday) –  9.45 A.M –  7.00 P.M (GMT+7)

Conference rooms, 2nd & 3rd Fl., Building M, DAV

Session 1: The South China Sea in a shifting global landscape 

This session will look back at developments in the South China Sea over the past year(s) to further understand why various stakeholders act the ways they do? Why the more interest there is on peace, stability and order in the sea, the greater erosion of trust there seems to be? Why common interests have not led to greater, more effective cooperation and lessen tensions? 

9.45am – 10.45am

(GMT+7)

Moderator:    

H.E. Amb. Giorgio Aliberti, Head of European Union Delegation in Vietnam

 

Speakers:

  • Derek Grossman, Senior Defense Analyst, RAND Corporation, US
  • Vannarith Chheang, President of the Asian Vision Institute, Cambodia
  • Ding Duo, Associate Research Fellow of National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Deputy Director of Research Center for Oceans Law and Policy, China
  • Vice Admiral Yoji Koda (Retd), Former Commander in Chief, Japan Self Defence Fleet (JSDF), Japan
  • Stephen R. Nagy, Senior Associate Professor, Department of Politics and International Studies, International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo and Senior Fellow, MacDonald Laurier Institute, Canada

10.45am-11.15am

(GMT+7)

Q & A 

 

(Session 2 to follow immediately – Coffee/Tea served at the lobby)

  

Session 2Thirty years after the Cold War: Is another brewing and How to prevent one from breaking out into conflicts 

This session would not delve into the conceptual debate on what a cold war is and is not. Rather, the session would look back at the lessons learnt among both the major and minor powers of the last cold war to see what can be done to establish decent code of conduct among all, avoiding miscalculations and manage incidence so that conflicts could be avoided at all costs. The roles of the major powers, middle powers, autonomy and alliances, multilateral organisations and strategic communications etc. would be revisited. 

11.15am – 12.15pm

(GMT+7)

Moderator:  

H.E. Amb. Elsbeth Akkerman, Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam

Speakers:

  • Zack Cooper, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
  • E. Amb. BilahariKausikan, Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore 
  • Anna Kireeva, Associate Professor, Department of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) 
  • Shuxian Luo, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, The Brookings Institution 
  • Sang Hyun Lee, President, The Sejong Institute, Korea

12.15pm – 12.45pm

(GMT+7)

Q & A 

12.45pm – 2.00pm (GMT+7) 

LUNCH 

1st Floor, Building M, DAV, 69 Chua Lang, Hanoi

  

Session 3Cementing the legal order in the South China Sea: assessment of the past 5 years 

It is widely recognized that UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out. The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration Award, a decision of an international judicial body, provides a reference point for interpreting and applying relevant UNCLOS provisions, aside from its direct implications on parties to the dispute.  

Session 3 will examine how legal order has been manifested in the South China Sea over the past 5 years. The discussion includes an analysis on (i) where state practices have developed to either deviate from or endorse the constitutional role of UNCLOS and (ii) how the legal order at sea would continue to evolve. 

2.00pm – 3.00pm 

(GMT+7) 

Moderator:

H.E. Amb. Robyn Mudie, Embassy of Australia in Viet Nam

Speakers:

  • Jay Batongbacal, University of the Philippines, the Philippines 
  • Lin Ting-hui, Deputy General Secretary of Taiwanese Society of International Law, Chinese Taipei 
  • Nishimoto Kentaro, Tohoku University, Japan  
  • Yan Yan, Director of the Research Center of Oceans Law and Policy in the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), China (invited) 
  • Andrew Murdoch, Legal Director, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom

Discussants:

  • Joanna Mossop, Associate Dean (Research), Law Faculty at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

3.00pm – 3.30pm 

(GMT+7) 

Q & A 

3.30pm – 3.45pm (GMT+7) 

COFFEE/TEA BREAK 

 

Session 4Be fair to the facts: History and the SCS 

History is important in any territorial disputes, but is oftentimes interpreted in different ways to suit different interests. This session shall revisit the history of the South China Sea with the view to exploring new research findings and clarifying certain facts, especially during the turbulent times after the Second World War and during the Cold war. Looking back on the Treaty of San Francisco at its 70th anniversary, for example, could be useful to understand the SCS’s history at a critical moment. 

3.45pm – 4.45pm 

(GMT+7) 

Moderator

Dr. Erik Solheim, Former Executive Director of UN Environment Programme and former Minister of Environment and International Development, Norway. 

Speakers: 

· Prof. Monique  Chemillier – Gendreau, Emeritus Professor,  Paris Diderot University, France  

· Dr. Vu Hai Dang, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore (CIL)  

· Mr. Carl Zha, Independent  Researcher,  China   

· Dr. Bill Hayton, Senior Expert, Asia-Pacific Program, Chatham House, UK  

4.45pm – 5.15pm 

(GMT+7) 

Q & A 

Keynote Session: Constructing a Cooperative and Connected Indo-Pacific

5.30pm – 5.45pm 

(GMT+7) 

  • H.E. Mr. Pawel Herczynski, EU’s Managing Director for Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and Crisis Response   

5.45pm – 6.00pm 

(GMT+7) 

Q & A 

6.00pm – 6.15pm 

(GMT+7) 

6.15pm – 7.30pm 

(GMT+7) 

COCKTAIL RECEPTION  (2nd Fl., Building M, DAV, 69 Chua Lang, Hanoi)

  • Nguyen Hung Son, Vice President of DAV
  • E. Amb. Giorgio Aliberti, Head of European Union Delegation in Vietnam
  • Florian C. Feyerabend, Country Representative, KAS Vietnam
  • Networking

END of DAY 1 

DAY 2:  TOWARDS A BRIGHTER FUTURE  

19 November 2021 (Friday) – 8.30 A.M – 5.30 P.M (GMT+7)

Conference rooms, 2nd & 3rd Fl., Building M, DAV

Keynote Session: Constructing a Cooperative and Connected Indo-Pacific

8.30am – 8.40am 

(GMT+7)

  • H.E. Amb. Sujan Chinoy, Former Ambassador of India to Japan, Director General of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi

8.40am – 9.00am 

(GMT+7) 

Q & A 

Session 5ASEAN and the QUAD in the regional architecture 

This session would look into the future of the regional security architecture to analyze how ASEAN and the emerging QUAD would compete or complement one another. The purpose of the discussion is to find out how ASEAN could and should strengthen its Centrality amid emerging issues affecting Southeast Asia’s security and stability, both due to traditional and non-traditional threats, as well as new emerging arrangements to deal with such threats. 

9.00am – 10.00am 

(GMT+7) 

Moderator:  

H.E. Amb. Pham Quang Vinh, Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam

 

Speakers:

  • E. Amb. Igor Driesmans, Head of European Union Mission to ASEAN
  • Rizal Sukma, Senior Fellow, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • Carl Thayer, Emeritus Professor at The University of New South Wales and Director of Thayer Consultancy, Australia
  • Harsh Pant, Director, Studies and Head of the Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India

10.00am – 10.30am (GMT+7) 

Q & A

10.30am – 10.45am 

COFFEE/TEA BREAK 

  

Session 6Disrupted supply chains: how to ensure resilient sea lanes amid Covid-19 

Supply chain disruptions threaten worldwide economic recovery efforts. In the Indo-Pacific, supply chain resilience depends greatly on stable, secure and uninterrupted sea-lanes of communication. This session will explore how factors such as infrastructure connectivity, port security cooperation, etc., might contribute to regional seaborn supply chain resilience, identify potential red flags in the management of maritime supply chain operations, and discuss ways to enhance the safety and stability of sea based logistical networks so as to ensure the Indo-Pacific region remain on a path to steady and sustainable growth in pandemic-troubled times. 

 

10.45am – 11.45am 

(GMT+7) 

Moderator:  

H.E. Amb. Jaya Ratnam, Embassy of Singapore in Vietnam

Speakers:

  • Dhvani Zaveri, Research Analyst, DRIP Capital
  • Nguyễn Quốc Trường, Head, Service Sector Development Strategy Department, Institute of Development Strategy, Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment & Mr. Trần Đức Nghĩa, Director General, Delta International Co., Ltd.
  • Michele Acciaro, Associate Professor of Maritime Logistics and Director, Hapag-Lloyd Center for Shipping and Global Logistics, Kühne Logistics University
  • Alejandro T. Reyes, Director of Knowledge Dissemination, Asia Global Institute, The University of Hong Kong

Discussant:

Ms. Shihoko Goto, Acting Director, Asia Program, The Wilson Center

11.45am – 12.15pm (GMT+7) 

Q & A 

12.15pm – 2.00pm 

LUNCH (1st Floor, Building M, DAV, 69 Chua Lang, Hanoi)

  

Session 7Promoting science diplomacy for common oceanic benefits  

Scientific research has long been identified as an area of common interest and most ready for cooperation to promote confidence as well as for the immediate benefit of the coastal states and beyond. This session would explore recent progress in science diplomacy and maritime cooperation, and the new opportunity brought out by rapid science and technological advancement to address environmental, humanity and economic development challenges, as well as non-traditional maritime threats. 

2.00pm – 3.00pm

(GMT+7) 

Moderator 

Mr. Marcus Winsley, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the United Kingdom in Vietnam 

Speakers: 

· Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi, Retired Chair, Vietnam Association for Maritime Environment & Nature 

· Dr. Allen Chen, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Chinese Taipei 

· Dr. Anastasia Telesetsky, Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences, Cal Poly  

· Dr. Sophie Boisseau du Rocher, Center for Asian Studies, French Institute of International Relations  

3.00pm – 3.30pm 

(GMT+7) 

Q & A 

3.30pm – 3.45pm (GMT+7) 

COFFEE/TEA BREAK 

  

Session 8Transparency through Tracking Technologies  

The past few years saw rapid advancement and popularization of sophisticated tracking and remote sensing technologies, opening new frontiers in maritime domain and situational awareness, particularly in the South China Sea. The unprecedented level of transparency that technology brought clearly had huge impact on public understanding and opinion, on accountability of involved stakeholders both at policy level and those operating “on the ground”. This session will discuss how the new information could and should be wisely utilized to avoid misinformation and disinformation.  

3.45pm – 4.45pm 

(GMT+7) 

Moderator: 

Dr. Nguyen Hung Son, Vice President of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam 

Speakers: 

· Mr. Gregory B. Poling, Director, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA  

· Captain Shichen Tian (Retd), Founder and President, Director of Center for International Law of Military Operations, Global Governance Institution (GGI), China  

· Mr. Nguyen The Phuong, Research Fellow, South China Sea Chronicle Initiative (SCSCI), Vietnam  

·  Captain Martin A. Sebastian RMN (Retd), Former Senior Fellow/Centre Head, Centre for Maritime Security and Diplomacy, Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA), Malaysia  

4.45pm – 5.15pm 

(GMT+7) 

Q & A 

5.15pm – 5.30pm 

    CLOSING REMARKS 

  

Side eventYoung Leaders Programme 

END OF PROGRAM