Dear Everyone,

This is Dr. Trần Trường Thủy’s presentation at the recent Conference on the East Sea in Manila, Philippines. Dr. Thủy is Director of Center for East Sea Studies of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.

This is a good presentation of the issues involved, Vietnam’s claims and positions on the issues, and China’s position (from the point of view of Vietnam and probably of everyone else, except China). If you are concerned about East Sea, I suggest that you go over this presentation. It is short.

Please click this link to read the presentation

According to this presentation:

– Issues related to Paracels (Hoàng Sa) shall be settled bilaterally between Vietnam and China.

– Issues related to Spratlys (Trường Sa) shall be settled multilaterally by all claimants (Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei).

– Issues involved non-claimants, such as “safety and security” of navigation, shall be settled by all concerned parties.

Conspicuously absent is the term “Freedom of navigation” that the US and every country other than China have been using lately, as a criteria of consideration.

Also, with the above arrangement for settlement, ASEAN, as an entity to help settle the disputes, is effectively on the deathbed?

Have a great day.

Hoanh