A round-table workshop was held in New Delhi, India, on January 10 discussing China’s establishment of the Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), new challenges to the Asia – Pacific region and the security structure in the East Sea.

The event was organised by Stratcore India, an outfit of Stratcore Group - a premier Afro-Asia consultancy and advisory body. It saw the participation of many scholars, strategists and defence experts together with diplomatic and press corps.

A report by the workshop’s chairperson read that China’s unilateral establishment of ADIZ on the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands will affect the long-term strategic balance in Asia.

Participants also said solving sovereignty disputes in the East Sea is a difficult and complicated work.

It required all concerned parties to follow the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, settle disputes by peaceful means, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and speed up the negotiation process for a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC), they added.

They also called for all sides involved in territorial disputes in the region to refrain from activities that may cause instability or escalate tension while urging countries like the US, Japan, India and Russia to support ASEAN’s efforts to reach a COC deal with China.-VNA