Washington D.C (VNA) – China and other concerned nations shouldrefrain from actions that further militarise the East Sea and parties need tosit down for negotiation via diplomatic channels to resolve the issue, accordingto an US expert.

China’s growing militarisation of the East Sea makes the situation morecomplicated and probably causes misunderstanding in an area that has alreadysuffered from many conflicts and complexity, Lindsey Ford, Director forPolitical-Security Affairs at the US’s Asia Society Policy Institute told VietnamNews Agency during a recent briefing by the University of Pennsylvania’s globalresearch centre Perry World House.

The briefing aimed to discuss latest developments in the regionaldiplomacy, legislation and military as well as policies of the governments ofthe US, China and other countries regarding to East Sea issues. It was alsoattended by Prof. Jacques deLisle and Mark Nevitt from the School of Law at theUniversity of Pennsylvania.

Most of the speakers at the briefing said that China has stepped up themilitarisation of the East Sea with construction of artificial islands andrunways, installation of radar facilities and deployment of bombers in the EastSea. They said the US government has shown a clear view that all claimantsshould hold back to not make the situation any worse.

The US has been concerned over Beijing’s unilateral move to set up an AirDefence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East Sea without consultation ordiscussion with other concerned parties, they said.

They stated that the US wants the East Sea and more broadly, thePacific and Indian Oceans are open and free, with freedom of navigation and transportationof goods and openness to trade and that the US looks forward to seeingcountries in the region to have trade relations based on international law andthe principles of freedom, openness, fairness and transparency.

On May 22, Vietnam voiced its opposition against China’s dispatch of bombersto Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and requested that China immediately stop sending bombers to conduct drillsin the islands.

The move has seriously violated Vietnam’ssovereignty over the archipelago and also run counter to the Vietnam – Chinaagreement on basic principles guiding the settlement ofsea-related issues as well as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in theEast Sea (DOC) between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) andChina, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said.

China’s acts have alsoadversely affected negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC)between ASEAN and China, and have fuelled tensions as well as causedinstability in the region, subsequently hampering efforts to maintain peace,stability and co-operation in the East Sea, she added.

“Vietnam has full legalgrounds and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa andTruong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes in line with international law,” the officialaffirmed.-VNA