Moscow (VNA) – Security andcooperation in the East Sea were the focus of discussions at a workshop organisedin Moscow on September 18 by the Institute of Oriental Studies (IOS) underthe Russian Academy of Sciences.

The biennial event, the third of its kind, drew the participationof over 30 leading international scholars andexperts in security, international cooperation, Asia-Pacific region anddisputes in the East Sea coming from Russia, Singapore, Australia,India, Mexico, France and Belgium.

Dmitry Mosyakov, Director of the IOS’s Centre for Southeast Asia,Australia and Oceania, highlighted changes in disputes in the East Sea,particularly after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) issued a ruling in2016, completely rejecting China’s legal and historical foundations of itssovereignty claims over 80 percent of the East Sea as well as changes in theUS’s foreign policy under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The competition for influence in the region between the USand China has made the disputes more complicated and difficult to solve, headded.

Pavel Gudev, from the Primakov Institute ofWorld Economy and International Relations under the Russian Academy of Sciences, highlightedthe fruitful relations between Russia and China as well as Southeast Asiannations, and affirmed Russia’s consistent viewpoints on the disputes in theEast Sea.

He called on the involved parties notto use force or threaten to use force, and seek diplomatic and peacefulmeasures to address the situation on the basis of respect for internationallaw, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea1982 (UNCLOS).

Participants suggested that China immediately stop constructingand militarising artificial islands and ensure freedom of navigation, while theUS should restrict the deployment of war ships to the disputed waters.

The concerned parties should accelerate the signing and fullyimplement the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC), conductbilateral and multilateral negotiations to find out solutions while theEuropean Union and other nations, such as Australia, Russia and India, shouldjoin the dispute settlement process, they said.

The delegates proposed that China and its Southeast Asian nationsshould find their similarities, particularly in economic cooperation, whilebuilding trust and mutual understanding, thus seeking compromises as thesettlement of the disputes in the East Sea is a long-term process.

They also stressed the necessity of political and economiccompromise between the US and China in completely addressing the disputes inthe East Sea.-VNA