The issues regarding the East Sea, or the South China Sea should be addressed based on the international conventions and laws, scholars and diplomats proposed this week they met to discuss the rising heat on the regional waters recently.
A seminar on “Disputes Regarding Sovereignty over islands in the East Sea, History, Geopolitics and International Laws” was held in Hanoi by the Vietnam Academy of Diplomacy on March 17.
As the East Sea issues are international, while China itself is pursuing them via its own process, therefore, from the diplomatic angle, opinions of the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Asean, the UN and WTO should be added to, scholars noted.
The issue should be dealt using three international legal grounds: International Justice Tribune, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and International Conventions on Signed Pacts, scholars highlighted.
“Good international relations will be supportive of tackling the issue,” said Ailien Tran, who is scholar from California University.
At the event, scholars presented latest historical evidences to claim legal sovereignty of Vietnam over Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratlys) archipelagos. Historians Nguyen Nha, Nguyen Quang Ngoc underlined that according to the history of the Nguyen dynasty, the ancient map of China to documents of Western scholars, Hoang Sa and Truong Sa names dated back to 1686 while Paracels and Spratlys known in China as the Xisha and Nansha emerged in only from 1909.
Scholars also referred to Western documents to trace origins of Paracels and Sparlys.
Spokesman of Vietnam Le Dung reiterated the stance toward Hoang Sa and Truong Sa is clear and Vietnam is closely following activities of the Chinese Fishery Administration Ship No 311 in the East Sea.
“Any seafood exploitation activities should abide by on respect of sovereignty of related states, international conventions including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Six claimant countries are Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Scholars said up to 25 per cent of international trade and half of oil shipments including 80 per cent of crude oil shipments of China, Japan and South Korea are transported via the East Sea, where oil reserves on continental shelf is estimated at 29.1 billion tons, and 5.8 billion tons of gas. (The People, Youth, VNS)
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