Geneva (VNA) – Scholars stressed the need to peacefully settle East Seadisputes in line with international law at an international workshop held inGeneva, Switzerland on December 6.

The workshopwas titled “South China Sea disputes – Award of the Arbitral Tribunalconstituted under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea and its implementation”.

AttorneyPierre Schifferli, deputy judge of the Court of Appeals in Geneva, said Chinahas put itself above the law when it openly denounced the ruling and usedforce, a violation of Article 2, Clause 4 of the UN Charter.

ResearcherBill Hayton from the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London agreed,saying that China is in a dilemma as Beijing’s claims over most of the East Seaface condemnation and its sea ambitions directly conflict with internationallaw.

In herspeech on implications of reclamation, construction and militarisation in theEast Sea on regional peace and security, Director of the Centre for Russia, Europeand Asia Studies Theresa Fallon said the construction and expansion of entitiesin the East Sea impacts many issues, especially fish stock and petroleum.

Accordingto Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative under the Centre forStrategic and International Studies Gregory Poling, the number of countrieswhich protested the PCA and its ruling decreased significantly, from 31 before July12, 2016- the date the PCA issued a ruling on the East Sea issue-, to six.

Professorof International Law from the University of Naples “L’Orientale” GiuseppeCataldi called for preventing unilateral actions that risk exacerbating tensionbetween parties concerned as well as seeking cooperation for common interests basedon the respect for law.

Prof.Robert Kolb from Geneva University’s Law Faculty, for his part, affirmed thatVietnam has the most persuasive and strongest evidence to prove its sovereigntyover Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, citing documentsfrom the 18th century and in 1920 and 1930.

Concludingthe event, participants welcomed the PCA’s ruling, saying that it narrows the geographicalscale of contested areas, opens up opportunities to settle disputes and promotescooperation.

Theworkshop emphasised ASEAN’s central role in building regional security institutions,stepping up the settlement of disputes via diplomatic and legal means and theimplementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea,towards reaching a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

The eventbrought together 9 speakers who are experts in law and international relationsfrom universities and research institutes in the US, UK, Belgium, Switzerland,Italy and Australia./.