Opening the 8th international conference on the East Sea

• Seminar seek measures to ensure environmental security in East Sea
• Environmental and maritime security for a Blue East Sea
• All nations responsible for maintaining peace in East Sea

Such two-day conference was jointly organized by the Diplomacy Academy (DAV), the Foundations for East Sea Studies and the Vietnam Lawyer Association with the presents of nearly 200 representatives took part in the conference including 60 international scholars, 70 Vietnamese participants and 20 delegates of foreign missions in Vietnam.

The conference brings opportunities for the leading East Sea-studied domestic and international scholars to share information, assess the recent developments or the corollary of the Eas Sea situation and discuss the capacity to promote regional ties.

Nearly 30 reports were presented in this conference comprised of 7 sessions focusing on: the history of the disputes in the East Sea; the prospect of the East Sea tensions; international laws and the East Sea; the political economy of the East Sea: the issues and the promises; security, politic and diplomacy; the interaction and the coordination in the sea and the mechanism for tension management of the East Sea.

The researchers discussed many aspects of the East Sea, from politic, diplomacy to the law, in order to seeks initiatives to enrich East Sea understanding and cooperations in accordance with the principles of international law.

A specially session was held for the first time for the representatives of the navy and law enforcement forces of relevant countries who discussed the interaction and coordination field measures to avoid unexpected clashes and boost the maritime cooperation.

As a part of the conference, the annual Yong Leaders Program gathered 8 young researchers and PhD candidates from 7 countries to build the network of young scholars on the East Sea issue and discuss the initiatives to boost the cooperation for the peace and development in the East Sea.

In the opening remarks, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Vu Tung, Director of the Diplomacy Academy said, in the recent years, the East Sea tensions have shown no sign of cooling down due to the continuous conflicts and changes of the status quo.

There were not only a number of dangerous clashes between fishing boats and enforcement ships of the countries near Spratly archipelago and especially Paracel archipelago, but also the face to face between US and China fighters in the region.

The restoration and militarization islands in the dispute area were increasingly complicated and the East Sea environment of the East Sea was seriously deteriorated at alarmling level.

Mr Le Thanh Quang, Secretary of the Khanh Hoa provincial Party Committee expressed: “ The East Sea situation poses needs to set up long-term solutions for the regional disputes as well as the mechanisms to maintain order and the law at the sea. Attentions should be paid to not only peace and stability but also the rights and obligations of the related parties, livelihoods of coastal residents and sustainability of the ocean ecology”.

Before the 1st session, on behalf of the Diplomacy Academy and the Foundation of East Sea Studies, Dr. Tran Truong Thuy presented a new website providing the latest research on maritime security, politics, economy and relevant laws. This new website is available  http://maritimesissues.com