(VOVworld) – A workshop was held at Yale University in the US on Friday and Saturday to discuss conflicts in the East Sea. The event, organized by the University’s Council on Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), attracted many East Sea researchers from the US, France, Germany, Australia, the UK, and Canada.

Delegates used many documents and old maps issued by China, other regional countries, and western countries to reject China’s sovereignty claim in the East Sea. They warned that China has built a military army, capable of controlling the first chain of islands in the East Sea, saying that China’s artificial islands can serve as logistics center for China’s fishing activities, carbon industry, and law enforcement agencies. They said China is deploying more fishing vessels, which together with commercial and coast guard vessels, aim to change the status quo in the East Sea. They added that China is using marine militia, which in case of an armed conflict, will be an unofficial naval force.