 |
| Image: Wiki Commons |
By Carl Thayer
The Diplomat‘s Carl Thayer reports on Vietnam’s Da Nang conference on the status of the Paracel Islands.
In March this year, Pham Van Dong University and the University of Da Nang teamed up to invite foreign scholars and legal experts to attend an international workshop on “Sovereignty Over the Paracel and Spratly Archipelagos: Historical and Legal Aspects” (later renamed Historical Truths) from June 19-21. The workshop was held in the central coastal city of Da Nang opposite the Paracel Islands.
The workshop organizers could not have foreseen that the conference would be held under the shadow of a crisis in China-Vietnam relations caused by Beijing’s placement in early May of a mega oil drilling platform in disputed waters near the Paracels but lying within Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
The workshop was attended by over 120 delegates, including specialists invited from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, and the United States. There were no representatives from mainland China or Taiwan.
The first day of the workshop included the presentation of 20 academic papers to two panels each divided into two sessions. The first panel focused on the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos dispute and the impact on regional peace and security. The first session focused on political and military aspects, while the second session considered the role of international law in developing a region of peace and security.
The second panel focused on the prospects for resolving the disputes involving the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos under international law. The first session looked at the historical and legal evidence of the claimant states. The second session considered how sovereignty and territorial disputes might be settled under international law.
The second day of the workshop included two roundtables focused on the legal and geo-strategic implications of China’s placement of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling platform in disputed waters.
After the close of the workshop delegates were taken to the opening of an exhibit of historical maps of the South China Sea at the Da Nang Museum. This was followed by a visit to the marine repair yard to meet the owner of Vietnamese fishing boat DNA 90152, which was rammed and capsized by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on May 26.
Three important sets of issues were raised at the workshop – historical evidence, the role of international law and the geo-strategic implications of maritime disputes.
Read the full story at The Diplomat