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The two-day event, jointly held by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), the Foundation for East Sea Studies (FESS) and the Vietnam Lawyers' Association (VLA), is drawing around 200 delegates, including nearly 90 international scholars and representatives from several foreign representative offices in Vietnam.

Nearly 30 papers presented at the event are expected to assess developments in the East Sea, international relations and order seen from the legal angle, military and semi-military balance in the East Sea, initiatives to foster sustainable development and cooperation, and the content and progress of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

In his opening remarks, DAV Director Nguyen Vu Tung said that East Sea remains one of the difficult problems for international researchers and scholars.

After the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)’s ruling in July last year, the East Sea situation has seen positive changes, but worries remain about the risk of disorders and conflicts in the waters in the long run, Tung stated.

According to him, the order in the sea has been eroded as international law has yet to be respected fully, while efforts to control disputes are reactive and patchy.

There also exists a paradox that in spite of a lot of cooperative initiatives, the real results are limited due to a lack of strategic trust. Therefore, the East Sea situation may grow more complicated in the coming year, he said.

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