Japan, Pacific Island Leaders Reaffirm Maritime Security Cooperation

(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) The leaders of Japan and Pacific island nations wrapped up their two-day summit in the northeastern Japan city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Saturday by adopting a joint statement that renewed their commitment to cooperate in maritime safety and security.

The 17 member states of the triennial Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, or PALM, forum "reaffirmed that maritime order should be maintained in accordance with the universally recognized principles of international law," including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, the statement said, carried by Jiji Press.

The leaders also "underscored the importance of exercising self-restraint and peacefully resolving international disputes without resorting to the threat or use of force," it said.

As China's maritime expansion has been causing tensions in the Pacific Ocean, the leaders' reference to maritime security was more detailed than in the statement from the previous summit in 2012.