(VOVworld) – China has unveiled its ambition of possessing the entire East Sea, said BBC reporter Bill Hayton at a workshop held by the European Institute for Asian Studies in Brussels on Tuesday to introduce Hayton’s book on the East Sea.

A Chinese ship fires water cannon on a Vietnamese ship in the East Sea, (Photo: Reuters)

Hayton said over the last two years tensions in the East Sea have been escalated by China’s coercive and destabilizing activities, such as illegally deploying an oil rig within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, expanding its illegal occupation of the Truong Sa Islands, stopping the Philippines from approaching the Scarborough Shoal, and imposing unilateral rules to support its claims in the East Sea. Some 100 experts including academics from the US, France, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and Belgium, EU officials, and diplomats in Brussels attended the seminar. The experts said the East Sea plays a vital role in global security and that all parties need to talk to settle their disputes to ensure freedom of navigation, shipping, and investment in the region.