Addressing the event, Prof. Dr. Thomas Engelbert from the Asia-Africa Institute said that sovereignty disputes in the East Sea is a current global matter that attracting many countries' attention.
Over the past years, many international conferences were held in various countries to discuss the issue, aiming to reflect the objective truth and the real situation of the disputes, he said.
Prof. Engelbert said that the workshop is expected to update participants and German people on information of the East Sea issue, thus voicing support to the justice and historical truth as well as protesting activities contrary to international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the judge of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bill Hayton from the UK Institute of International Affairs focused on analysing the history of sovereignty claims of parties in the East Sea and explaining the current dispute in the sea as well as China's intentios through its ungrounded claim called “nine-dash line”.
Participants showed their viewpoints on various relevant matters, while raising questions to experts to clarify the East Sea disputes, especially illegal actions of China such as the reinforcement and militarisation of islands and rocks, and the risk of insecurity in the world’s major maritime route.
The event, the first of its kind held at Hamburg University, provided a comprehensive and objective picture on the East Sea issue to scholars and researchers as well as the media, which is expected to lay a foundation for larger-scale events in the future.
VNA/VNP
