United Southeast Asian front against China unlikely The ASEAN Chairman, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, also reaffirmed the importance of all countries respecting the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea — but he did not explicitly mention China. While this language may be considered progress in ASEAN-speak, it was hardly a robust expression of united opposition against China’s actions. Vietnam joins ASEAN effort to combat IUU fishing Relations between the EU and some ASEAN member states have been tense in recent years because of the seafood trade, stemming from the European Commission’s (EC) sanctions related to the…