Former Vice Foreign Minister of Thailand: South China Sea Should Be a Sea of Peace, Cooperation and Where We Can Benefit Together

Former Vice Foreign Minister of Thailand: South China Sea Should Be a Sea of Peace, Cooperation and Where We Can Benefit Together

BEIJING, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In this interview with Sorajak Kasemsuvan, Council Member, Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council; Former Vice Foreign Minister of Thailand, he analyzes the holistic and collaborative solution to ocean governance issues, expounds the importance of the South China Sea Code of Conduct and environmental protection cooperation, and interprets the core connotation of mutual benefit in China-ASEAN economic and maritime governance cooperation.

China-ASEAN Observation (COA): Global ocean governance is facing many new challenges. What do you think is the most pressing issue at present?

Sorajak Kasemsuvan: I think so many issues are really at the top of the list, I cannot say really which one is the top. It depends on where you are. It depends on what affect you most. Another thing that we might not even thought of, but we in several countries in Southeast Asia have been affected recently is the unprecedented level of torrential rainfalls. And flooding is now getting higher and higher and higher every year. Not because of the rainfalls only, but because of the sea level that is rising as well. So many dimensions of the problems at the moment. It’s difficult to pinpoint which one will be the most important one to tackle first. We have to tackle them in a very holistic way, and we have to tackle them in a very collaborative way, multilaterally. There’s no single nation that can handle it single-handedly. And also is no use for any single or any leader to say that this is not true, this is false. Scientific evidence have shown so much that this is happening. This is a great hazard to humanity.

China-ASEAN Observation (COA): How should countries’ responsibilities be defined to ensure the stability and fairness of global ocean governance?

Sorajak Kasemsuvan: I think, first of all, it is important for the public in each nation to believe and to be convinced that this is really happening. And to believe that if you’re not doing anything, then not only our generation, maybe not so much with our generation, but our next generation, our children, might not be safe to live anymore.

So it’s important for each country and the public in this country to understand. And once they understand the risk, once they understand the hazards, once they understand the impact that will happen to the country and the generation, then they will start to think that they have to do something, both something by themselves, and also something that would be abide by the law. So the law is important in this regard, but the law will not have any impact if people don’t believe in it. So we have to make everyone feel that they have to take this seriously and then be abided by the law.