VietNamNet Bridge – Two years after the first workshop, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Institute for International Relations today (April 26) organizes the second national workshop on the East Sea.

China’s East Sea claim

U-shape line heats up int’l workshop on East Sea

With the topic “Sovereignty disputes in the East Sea: History, geopolitics and international law”, the workshop groups up around 80 delegates who are senior researchers, representatives from research institutes in Vietnam and independent scholars.

The workshop will be an open forum to collect opinions and assessments of the situation in the East Sea of recent time and suggest policies to Vietnam for the future.

Participants will focus on four issues: the legal foundation and history of the sovereignty of Vietnam and related countries, assessment of recent developments in the East Sea, the role of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and regional cooperation, and policy suggestions for Vietnam.

The second national workshop on the East Sea will take place in the context of new and complicated development in the East Sea.

China has adjusted its policy in the East Sea. This country has held military exercises in the sea of conflict and announced social-economic development plans for the southern area, which covers Hoang Sa Archipelago.

In recent years, the US and some Southeast Asian countries, like Indonesia and the Philippines have also adjusted their policies in the East Sea.

The Declaration on the Conducts of Related Countries in the East Sea (DOC) are still the basis for related sides to negotiate to reach the Code of Conducts of related sides in the East Sea.

The first national workshop on the East Sea was organized in March 2009, with the same topic as the second, opened a new approach of publicizing and de-sensitizing the sovereignty dispute in the East Sea.

The workshop showed historical evidence to prove that Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes belong to Vietnam, and commented that the East Sea conflict has become an international issue. The conflict must be solved publicly, transparently, constructively for the mutual interests of related countries, and for regional and international security.

There were also two international workshops on the East Sea held in November 2009, in Hanoi and November 2010, in HCM City.

Chung Hoang