East Sea issue must be settled based on int’l regulations: experts
Experts reiterated the significance of respecting international regulations in settling disputes in the East Sea at a recent conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Deputy head of the Institute for East Sea Studies under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam To Anh Tuan speaks at the conference. (Photo: VNA)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Experts reiterated the significance of respectinginternational regulations in settling disputes in the East Sea at a recentconference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Representatives from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines,Singapore, the US and Vietnam voiced their concern over the recent complicateddevelopments in the waters at the international conference themed “The New MaritimeGeopolitical Theater” on October 24.
The event was held by the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, the Japanese Embassyand Australian High Commission in Malaysia.
Deputy head of the Institute for East Sea Studies under the Diplomatic Academyof Vietnam To Anh Tuan stressed that among marine issues rising in theIndo-Pacific Ocean, disputes in the East Sea are the most serious threat to theregional peace and security.
Tuan pointed out disputes in the East Sea engage the highest number of partiesas compared to other disputes in the region, while China, as a member of theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982), has deniedto obey principles set in the convention.
Besides, security in the East Sea also impacts that in the Indian Ocean and thePacific Ocean, he added.
According to Tuan, therewill be a giant stride in building trust and promoting peaceful and stableenvironment in the region if a Code of Conduct on the East Sea (COC) isadopted. However, COC is not used to address disputes of claimants but toregulate code of conduct of each party.
To this end, he laid stress on the use of peaceful means in line withinternational law, including UNCLOS 1982, to solve the issue.
“Threat or use of force only makes the situation more complex”, he said./.
China’s recent activities in the East Sea are more unilateral and provocation, seriously violating the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), said Professor Daisuke Hosokawa at the Osaka University of Economics.
China's sovereignty claims over most of the areas in the East Sea are invalid in legality and its unilateral actions in the sea are illegitimate, a Belgian expert of international maritime law has said.
Vietnam owns convincing evidence of its sovereignty in the East Sea, Russian expert Grigory Trofimchuk, Chairman of the Expert Council of the Eurasian Foundation for Support of Scientific Research has said.
The European Union (EU) was urged to increase its regional presence with a focus on trade, connectivity and maritime security and safety as navigation in the East Sea is an important artery of the world trade and essential to the bloc, as heard a seminar in Brussels on October 22.
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A 21-year-old Indian tourist was successfully resuscitated and treated by doctors at Hoan My Da Nang Hospital after a near-drowning incident left him in critical condition. After three days of intensive care, the man was discharged from the hospital and has since returned to India.
In an document issued on August 5, the PM emphasised the need to stablise living conditions for people hit by floods, landslides, and flash floods in late July and early August in northern and north-central provinces, especially Dien Bien, Son La, and Nghe An which suffered some of the worst damage.
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Deputy head of the Institute for East Sea Studies under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam To Anh Tuan speaks at the conference. (Photo: VNA) 
