The 12th international conference on the South China Sea was held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., USA. (photo: VOV)

High on the agenda was the situation in the East Sea, legal developments and dispute management, partnership, military capability, and the role of regional alliances such as the Quartet, AUKUS, and the EU in the India-Pacific and East Sea.

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Director of the East Sea Institute, of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (photo: VOV)

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Director of the East Sea Institute, of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, said: “Presentations at the conference reviewed recent developments and criticized all China’s maritime claims which are inconsistent with international law. A representative of the US State Department presented the results of a study on maritime limits, affirming that if all provisions of the law were applied, China's maritime claims are inconsistent with international law and practices. Specifically, there are 80 practices related to offshore islands and all of these practices do not support China's position.”

All presentations confirmed that China is pursuing a new status quo in the East Sea, which does not comply with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.