(VOV) - The US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted its fourth annual seminar on the East Sea in Washington on Thursday, bringing together leading scholars from the US, China, India, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Delegates will take an in-depth look at recent developments in the East Sea following the illegal placement by China of its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf and the Philippines’ lawsuit against China in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).


Seminar participants gave recommendations on dealing with the increasingly aggressive actions by China, easing current tensions, and maintaining stability in the region. During the two-day seminar, Tran Truong Thuy of the East Sea Research Foundation (ESRF) and Vu Hai Dang from the Vietnam Lawyers' Association said China’s illegal stationing of a giant oil drilling platform in Vietnam’s territorial waters was a turning point signifying a new level of Chinese assertiveness. The two Vietnamese scholars asked the US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take the lead in formulating a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) and to support the peaceful resolution of disputes through an international arbitration mechanism. Delegates will discuss the US’s East Sea policy and efforts to build trust and cooperation among the parties involved in East Sea conflicts.