Environmental Impacts on the East Sea: A Perspective from International Ethics

Abstract

Ecological environmental issues, environmental pollution, and acts that damage the environment and the ecosystem are all concerns of international actors, and over time have entered the international agenda, becoming one of the factors that govern international life. From there, the behavior of a nation towards the environment is linked to the responsibility of the nation, linked to the concept of morality (of the nation) in international relations (international morality). A nation can choose the way to behave towards the environment and the ecosystem, that behavior can have negative or positive impacts on the environment and the ecosystem, thus causing impacts on the common interests of the international community, including the interests of other nations. In that spirit, c Considering a nation's behavior towards the environment and the ecosystem is an important basis for assessing a nation’s responsibilities and the morality in the international community. This article focuses on a representative case - the impacts on the environment and the ecosystem in the South China East Sea through the actions of coastal states, as such a study case, in the context of the
long-lasting and serious disputes in the region for many years. Based on a number of methods such as data synthesis and analysis, discourse analysis as well as comparison of behavior, the article will evaluate international morality through nations’ behaviors and their impacts on the environment and the ecosystem in the South China East Sea. This article does not address demands or sovereignty disputes over Vietnam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.