China’s activities in East Sea violate int’l laws: Russian experts
China’s recent activities in the East Sea are contrary to international laws, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982), experts highlighted at a conference held at the Russian Academy of Justice (RGUP) on November 1.
Moscow (VNA) – China’s recent activities in the East Sea arecontrary to international laws, including the United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982), experts highlighted at a conference held atthe Russian Academy of Justice (RGUP) on November 1.
The event drew the participation of many scientists, lecturers, post-graduateresearchers and students from leading law schools in Russia.
In his presentation at the conference, Grigory Lokshin from the Centre forVietnam and ASEAN Studies under the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute ofFar Eastern Studies stressed China has systematically violated internationallaws by its illegal activities in the East Sea in the past decade.
He said China’s moves have turned the East Sea into a hot spot internationally,citing as examples its recent deployment of survey vessel group Haiyang Dizhi-8in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, test landing ofplanes on an airstrip illegal built on the Chu Thap (Riery Cross) reef inTruong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, and militarisation of artificial features inthe waters, among others.
Lokshin believed that China attempts to turn an area without disputes oroverlapping claims in the East Sea into a disputed one, while hampering legaloil and gas activities of Vietnam and Russia in the waters. He affirmed that thereis no legal basis for China to issue claims in those waters.
His view was shared by Dmitri Mosyakov, Director of the Centre for SoutheastAsia, Australia and Oceania Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences’Institute of Oriental Studies, who emphasized the rule of law in thenegotiations on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.
All speakers affirmed that all parties should respectrecognised international laws including the UNCLOS 1982 to which China is asignatory./.
The European Union (EU) was urged to increase its regional presence with a focus on trade, connectivity and maritime security and safety as navigation in the East Sea is an important artery of the world trade and essential to the bloc, as heard a seminar in Brussels on October 22.
Experts reiterated the significance of respecting international regulations in settling disputes in the East Sea at a recent conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Beijing intends to bully and threaten countries in the Indo-Pacific region by illegally building and militarising artificial features on the East Sea, Admiral John C. Aquilino, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, told the press in New Delhi on October 29.
Indian daily Times of India on November 1 ran an article by Baladas Ghoshal, a scholar from the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies of India, that held that the encroachment of Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) by China’s Haiyang Dizhi 8 vessel clearly impinged on Vietnam’s territorial integrity and economic security.
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At the conference (Photo: VNA) 
