China’s use of force to occupy the Hoang Sa archipelago in 1974 and several shoals on the Truong Sa archipelago in 1988 were an absolute violation of international law, they said.
They also slammed China’s irrational claim over a nine-dash line in the East Sea. According to them, China’s strengthened efforts to claim the line are behind the growing tensions in the East Sea.
Many speakers said China’s establishment of the so-called Sansha city and its development activities in the area are attempts to control the East Sea, threatening peace, stability, maritime security and safety in the East Sea.
The participants agreed that peace, stability, maritime security, safety and freedom in the East Sea are in the common interests of countries inside and outside the region.
According to them, the East Sea coastal nations need to comply with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), fully and seriously implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and early formulate a Code of Conduct in East Sea (COC).
East Sea disputes should be settled by peaceful means in line with international law and the 1982 UNCLOS, without the use of or threat to use force, they said.
Tran Cong Truc, former head of the Government’s National Boundary Commission, said the fact that Vietnam is the first State in history to occupy and exercise its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa in an actual and continuous manner was highlighted by scholars at the seminar.