Berlin (VNA) – An international workshop on the East Sea was held at the Asia-AfricaInstitute under Hamburg University in northern Germany, drawing many leadingscholars and researchers on Asia, Southeast Asia and East Sea, as well as about100 guests from various countries such as Germany, the US, Japan, Russia andIndia.

Addressingthe event, Prof. Dr. Thomas Engelbert from the Asia-Africa Institute said thatsovereignty disputes in the East Sea is a current global matter that attractingmany countries' attention.

Over thepast years, many international conferences were held in various countries todiscuss the issue, aiming to reflect the objective truth and the realsituation of the disputes, he said.

Prof.Engelbert said that the workshop is expected to update participants and German people oninformation of the East Sea issue, thus voicing support to the justice andhistorical truth as well as protesting activities contrary to internationallaw, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea andthe judge of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Meanwhile,Dr. Bill Hayton from the UK Institute of International Affairs focused on analysingthe history of sovereignty claims of parties in the East Sea and explaining thecurrent dispute in the sea as well as China's intentios through its ungroundedclaim called “nine-dash line”.

Participantsshowed their viewpoints on various relevant matters, while raising questions toexperts to clarify the East Sea disputes, especially illegal actions of Chinasuch as the reinforcement and militarisation of islands and rocks, and the riskof insecurity in the world’s major maritime route.

The event,the first of its kind held at Hamburg University, provided a comprehensiveand objective picture on the East Sea issue to scholars and researchers as wellas the media, which is expected to lay a foundation for larger-scale events inthe future.-VNA