German scholars strongly criticised China’s recent moves in the EastSea at a scientific conference held at the headquarters of DieTageszeitung (TAZ) newspaper in Berlin on December 9.
In his speech, Dr. Gerhard Will, former senior expert at the GermanInstitute for International Politics and Science, gave an overview ofthe historical issues and recent developments in the East Sea aswell as highlighted a risk of increasing tensions in the waters asChina conducts illegal construction activities on islands andincreases military activities here.
According to Will, the EastSea, one of the leading international maritime routes, is of specialimportance for global trade, so it is of vital interest for theinternational community, including Germany, to maintain a peacefulenvironment and ensure smooth maritime and aviation trade via thewaters.
He said that China’s increasingconstruction activities in Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly)archipelagoes, together with its previous placement of the oil rigHaiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, has madethe regional situation tense again.
China’s building ofartificial islands and its expansion of some reefs such as Chu Thap(Fiery Cross) and Gac Ma (Johnson South) in Truong Sa ran counter tointernational law and violated the Declaration of the Conduct of Partiesin the East Sea (DOC), he said, adding that the breaking of the statusquo of these islands will make negative impacts on security andstability in the region and the world at large.
Henoted that the East Sea disputes should be settled vianegotiations on the basis of international law. Concerned parties needto build trust based on the two pillars of economic cooperation andpolitical dialogue while maintaining both bilateral and multilateraldialogue mechanisms.
Meanwhile, Dr. Andreas Seifert, a militaryanalyst from the Tuebingen society of military studies, focused onChina ’s nine-dotted line claim in the East Sea and the country’spropaganda on its illegal island construction in the waters.
Thisclaim is legally and geologically groundless, he said, adding that itderives from abundant reserves of oil, gas and maritime resources in theEast Sea as well as its strategic geo-political position on theinternational maritime life-line.
According to Seifert,neighbouring countries should be cautious of China’s nine-dash lineintention and its tactics of building and consolidating islands in HoangSa and Truong Sa.
Prof. Dr. Howard Loewen from the Institute forPeace Research and Security Policy under the University of Hamburg,analysed the role of a regional security mechanism in ensuring peace inthe East Sea, emphasising the need for a power balance in the regionwith big countries like the US, Japan, India, Russia and Australiaraising their stronger voices against China’s claims.
BothSeifert and Loewen agreed that the East Sea disputes can only be solvedby peaceful means in respect for the 1982 UN Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS 1982) and the international community should have astronger voice on this issue.-VNA