The two-day event, jointly held by
the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), the Foundation for East Sea Studies
(FESS) and the Vietnam Lawyers' Association (VLA), is drawing around 200 delegates,
including nearly 90 international scholars and representatives from several
foreign representative offices in Vietnam.
The conference aims to provide both
Vietnamese and foreign scholars with a multi-dimensional insight into the East Sea
situation over the past year, and discuss measures to maintain peace and
stability in the region and boost cooperation.
Nearly 30 papers presented at the
event are expected to assess developments in the East
Sea, international relations and order
seen from the legal angle, military and semi-military balance in the East Sea,
initiatives to foster sustainable development and cooperation, and the content
and progress of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.
In his opening remarks, DAV Director
Nguyen Vu Tung said that East
Sea remains one of the
difficult problems for international researchers and scholars.
After the Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA)’s ruling in July last year, the East Sea
situation has seen positive changes, but worries remain about the risk of disorders
and conflicts in the waters in the long run, Tung stated.
According to him, the order in the
sea has been eroded as international law has yet to be respected fully, while
efforts to control disputes are reactive and patchy.
There also exists a paradox that in
spite of a lot of cooperative initiatives, the real results are limited due to
a lack of strategic trust. Therefore, the East Sea
situation may grow more complicated in the coming year, he said.
Tung stressed the need for
comprehensive, long-term and sustainable solutions to prevent the situation
from getting more serious and threatening the security ecosystem of the entire
region.
Mentioning the role of international
jurisdictional mechanisms in increasing the role of international law, former
Chief Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)
Vladimir Vladimirovich Golitsyn stated that the role of international
jurisdictional offices should be enhanced as the establishment of tribunals is
an important role in improving international law supremacy and maritime
administration.
Prof. Brahma Chellaney from the
Centre for Policy Studies of India, said that there is a realignment of order,
affecting the region’s political stability and the world’s centre moving to the
Indo-Pacific region, in which the East
Sea is the most important water area
with a crowded maritime route connecting the Indian Ocean
and the Pacific.
Currently, the Indo-Pacific region
is holding the key to world security and order. Therefore, any instabilities
arising in the East
Sea affect not only
countries in the region but also many other countries and regions, Brahma
Chellaney affirmed.
The professor suggested parties
involved respect international regulations and principles.
The East Sea
provides one of the most important maritime lanes in the globe and benefits
many countries. Therefore, maintaining peace, stability, navigation and over
flight security, safety, and freedom in the sea area is the top priority. The
parties concerned should display their responsibility in abiding by
international law, specifically upholding the supremacy of the rule of law in
the East Sea. Every extreme reaction or
activities defying international law will fuel tensions and complicate the
situation.
In recent years, the East Sea
issue has attracted much attention from the international community.
In July 2016, the PCA ruled that
China’s claims over historical rights within the “nine-dash line” run counter
the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), so it has no legal
value.
The tribunal also verified that no
features in the Spratly archipelago could be considered an island and so are
not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS.
Source: VNA