The 13th annual conference on the South China Sea (called by Vietnam as the East Sea) held by CSIS in Washington on Friday (photo: VOV)

Attending the event, policy makers and officials from the US Departments of State and Defense, experts and scholars from several countries analyzed developments in the East Sea over the past years and made forecasts for the time ahead.

High on the agenda were also the recent situation in the East Sea, new points on legal affairs and management of disputes in the waters, and the role of external entities such as the Quartet, the AUKUS alliance (Australia, the UK, and the US), and Europe.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Kritenbrink, talked about the US’s policy in the East Sea: “Our policy is to support each and every country and exercising its own sovereignty and in pursuing its own national interests. We believe that all countries large and small should play by the same rules. Larger countries should not bullying small ones. Maintaining peace and stability and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is part of our larger vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Therefore we’ll continue to work with allies and partners across the region and across the world to ensure that our skies and seas are governed and used in a accordance with international laws and grounded in respect for the world’s space maritime domain.”

Director of the East Sea Institute of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, said: “At the conference, Vietnam shared its views and stances on the East Sea issue, elaborated justice and legal basis for Vietnam's claims of sovereignty and waters in the East Sea. Vietnam wants to affirm a positive and constructive stance that it is willing to settle disputes in the East Sea peacefully in order to maintain peace and stability in the region.”