(VOVworld) – An international workshop on the East Sea has opened in New York. Delegates analyzed causes of the tension in the East Sea, US-China relations and the role by the ASEAN in dispute resolution. Vietnamese delegates presented indisputable proof on Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. They reiterated Vietnamese stance to resolve disputes in the East Sea through international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hailed the importance of peaceful negotiation in resolving territorial dispute. Former assistant to the US Secretary of State, Christopher Hill: “China’s core interest must not only be the East Sea but a peaceful resolution with neighboring countries. Maritime dispute with neighboring countries does not benefit China, whose relationship management with neighbors is decisive to China and the world.”

Professor Huang Jing from Singapore’s Asia and Globalization Center looks into possible solutions to the East Sea issue: “It’s important to resolve the dispute peacefully by abiding to international law and acknowledged standards. Related parties must refrain from further intensification and crisis while a framework must be built up for parties to discuss and cooperate in action.”