Int’l legal experts to discuss China’s Spratly reclamation

Part of Johnson Reef locally called Mabini Reef at the Spratly Islands. Photo from Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs / scmp.com.

Ho Chi Minh CITY — Local and international law experts plan to discuss the consequences and threats created from China’s unprecedented reclamation works in the Spratlys archipelago at a conference to be held today (Saturday), the rector of HCM City University of Law has said.

Speaking at a press briefing in HCM City yesterday, Professor Mai Hong Quy, Rector of the University, said that China’s expansion on seven reefs that belong to Vietnam violated international law and threatened peace as well as economic and trade security in the region.

At the one-day international conference on the construction of artificial islands in the East Sea and its impact on peace, security, and economic and trade development in the region, organized by the university and the Vietnam Lawyers Association, more than 20 legal experts will offer solutions to help defuse the tension in the region.

Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries in the region had strongly protested China’s action, Quy said.

Last year, the university also held a conference in HCM City after China illegally put Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, she added.

Besides experts from Russia, India, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines, Professor Erik Franck, director of the Center for International Law at Belgium’s Vrije Brussels University, will speak today at the conference.

Franck is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague.

“We sent invitations to Chinese experts to attend, but no one has registered to attend the conference,” Quy said.

At the conference, experts will focus on issues related to the impact of China’s reclamation on freedom of navigation and trade in the East Sea.