The latest spat between China and Vietnam looks dangerously close to escalating. China needs to take the lead in finding a solution.
The escalating dispute between China and Vietnam over contested waters in the South China Sea couldn’t have come at a worse time for Beijing. Less than a year ago, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put China on notice by declaring that the peace and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is in the US national interest, and she not too subtly called on China to resolve its territorial disputes with its neighbours through peaceful means and according to international laws.
As we now know, Clinton’s remarks in Hanoi in July 2010 marked a watershed in two important aspects. It decisively shifted the perception of the balance of power in the region. Prior to the Clinton statement, China was thought to have gained the upper hand in the region through years of painstakingly pursuing a ‘charm offensive.’ After the Clinton shock, which all Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries secretly cheered, China appeared to have been isolated on the issue of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. In addition, China’s clumsy response, consisting of thinly veiled threats to its neighbours, only added to the series of diplomatic blunders that made 2010 the worst year in Chinese foreign policy since 1989.
To regain its diplomatic initiative and repair self-inflicted damage, China has recently embarked on another charm offensive that has yielded some encouraging results. Ties with the United States have stabilized since Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Washington in January. US-China military-to-military dialogue has resumed. Even relations with Japan have improved considerably in recent months.
So at this stage, an ugly and potentially dangerous clash with Vietnam is the last thing China wants.
But at the same time, Beijing also needs to show that it won’t compromise on territorial disputes. Unfortunately, in Vietnam, China now encounters an equally tough and uncompromising contestant.
Of all the territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Sino-Vietnamese dispute is the most likely to lead to armed conflict. First, both countries have engaged in naval skirmishes in the South China Sea before. In 1974, the Chinese navy gained complete control of the Paracel islands after routing the South Vietnamese navy. In 1988, China and Vietnam fought a brief naval battle in the Spratlys. Second, Chinese claims in the Spratlys are generally considered weak under international law because, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, China would have difficulty proving the reefs it currently occupies meet the standards of self-sustaining and inhabitable islands (which then will have a 200 miles exclusive economic zone, or EEZ). But that isn’t the case with the Paracels, which China has effective control over, but which Vietnam continues to claim. The 200-mile EEZ of the Paracels and the 200-mile EEZ extending from Vietnam’s coastal line overlap. According to reports, the incident in which a Chinese patrol boat severed the multi-million dollar seismic survey cable operated by a PetroVietnam research vessel took place in this disputed zone.
Photo Credit: Uniphoto Press
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From Saigon
Everyones love their country, I myself wants peace for my nation. It’s only been ~50 years of peace and my nation achieved alot in those years. War with China right now disregard winning or loosing, which would sabotage all efforts made. I try to comprehend the incident at a neutral state, and reads difference topics. The Age in Australia address recent incident happened on “dispute water”. In Saigon, the ‘vnexpress.net’ refers it as not dispute. So i’ll wait for the rest of the world to judge it’s not for anyone with emotions or tie to any involving party to conclude.
I’ve read all of the comments prior to my comment here are my opinion:
1.The incident can’t be start by Vietnam, Vietnam understand it is in no position to provoke China.
2.The chance of a war happening is less likely, as both Vietnam and China has better thing to do like improving stability of own country, and war will cause more harm than good for both nations.
3.All this happens are only due to energy (fossil fuel) – all that investments in an armrace could find a solution for new source of energy.
4.I predicts after the oils ran out, a war for fresh water is next :]
Finally, I hate war really. It causes death for so many and bring so less gain. I see alot of you seem to love war. I recommend visiting your own nation war gallery before thinking starting a war. And to my fellow Vietnamese and let you know that i’m a coward – and easy to get afraid most of the time; but i’ll answer my nation call and become brave to face you if war is inevitable. “Con Rồng Cháu Tiên”
A Student of RMIT VIETNAM.
Dai Viet
Good comment. I love peace too. Chinese friends please think about the time that you suffered during war in China. Thank you.
YeuNuoi
Thank you for a civilized comment. I haven’t seen this type of comment for a long time. No more wars please.
Liang1a
China has sovereignty over the disputed areas. This is established fact for hundreds if not thousands of years. Obviously Vietnam can benefit from the oil money. But it cannot take what rightfully belongs to China no matter how much Vietnam needs it.
China and Vietnam have a common culture for thousands of years. Unfortunately, many Vietnamese have some kind of hatred for the Chinese which I cannot understand especially since China had helped Vietnam so much during its war against the US.
My recommendation to the Vietnamese is to get out of the sovereign territories of China immediately. Then we can talk about help for the development of Vietnam. The Vietnamese people must remember that Singapore, Taiwan, S. Korea and Japan all have little or no oil or any other resources. Yet they are among the richest countries in the world. So Vietnam does not need oil to prosper. What it needs is peace and help from China to develop its own internal economy through education and increases of productivity of its workers. Even if Vietnam can get $100 billion of oil money per year that is only $1,000 per Vietnamese per year. And then oil will run out in 30 years or so and then there is nothing left. If Vietnam hasn’t developed then it will sink back to poverty again. On the other hand if Vietnam develops its internal economy to the same level as Singapore or Taiwan then it could continue to give its people $20,000 to $30,000 per year forever. And $1,000 per year of oil money does not make much difference to incomes of $30,000.
Observer
@ Liang1a – you said “China has sovereignty over the disputed areas. This is established fact for hundreds if not thousands of years.”
LOL, so you and your Chinese propaganda mouthpieces say so and it is fact? Let see those “establish facts” and “historic evidences”. Let see some articles and stories from independence sources to back up your statements.
Oh, China also has about 135 million of its own people that live in extreme poverty. That is more than the population of Philippines or Vietnam.
FACTS: China NEVER has any sovereignty in South China Sea by any standards.
FACTS: China WAS/IS/WILL be the invader and bully of Vietnam for several thousands years.
Get your stories straight and then get back here and debate.
phd
Even though history may expanse for more thousand years, and has been deceitfully covering by a “mountains connect mountains, rivers connect rivers” friendship, Vietnamese broadly know who Chinese people are…
phd
Even though history may expanse for more thousand years, and has been deceitfully covering by a “mountains connect mountains, rivers connect rivers” friendship, Vietnamese broadly know that who Chinese people are. China is a big body neighbor with ill-nature.
Ole
I would recommend the author of this article to read more about Paracels and Spratly islands such as their geological formation, size etc to explain why Spratly are not considered as self-sustaining and inhabitable islands but Paracels are.
To all others, I would recommend to check coordinates of the incident of Binh Minh 02 at 12o 48′ 25” N, 111o 26′ 48” E using Google Earth or Google map. You can check all the distances to Vietnam coastal line, Hainan island, Paracels and Spratly islands and see whose territory the incident was in. Of all mentioned places only Vietnam coastline is within 200 nautical miles.
I also recommend people to see this footage of the Binh Minh 02 incident
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgPt4EGyhU
In that video if Chinese Marine Surveillance ships were in their water why didnt they fly their proud Chinese flag?, horn their horn? Instead they went straight to cut the cable of Binh Minh 02 survey ship. No flags, no crews on their deck??? were they hiding and ashamed of their own act. I leave you all to judge.
(btw, if you access youtube and google from China and these sites do not work for you, I just dont know how to help, you probably need to ask permission from your government, good luck!!!)
Truth
Another very well known publication (Foreign Policy) says this.
“It would be as if [the United States] just declared the entire Atlantic Ocean was our territorial waters, and anyone else who tried to explore it, we could do what we want to them– cut their cables, sink their ships,” Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations told Passport. “They are not just going to let China take it over. China’s claim is so enormous, it would take up the entire sea. Their claims are absurd.”
Read more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/06/20/a_guide_to_the_escalating_conflict_in_the_south_china_sea
M. Alaya
Did anyone notice that it is only China that has taken aggressive bullying and military threat/action against its neighbors?
It is the aggressor against all other countries in the Southeast Asian Sea (e.g. Vietnam, Philippines.) In fact, China has the most recent history of aggressive threat and provocative action against numerous neighbors: Japan, India, South Korea through N. Korea, Russia.
So what does that tell all of us about the Peaceful Rise rhetoric? Does anyone here outside of China really believe that cr&p?
John Chan, actions speak louder than words. No amount of defending on your part can give China a semblance of credibility given its recent history of actions. You are just embarrassing yourself and provoking more people here. Shut the crappy Western Imperialist rhetoric. China is behaving exactly like those imperialists you condemn. The world does not need another imperialist in China.
Le Chi Hung
@ John Chan and Frank: You guys may know about Ryu Seung (柳升 or 柳昇), a general of the Ming dynasty, who was guillotined his head in Vietnam while trying to invading Vietnam. Turn back to this lesson. If you guys, Chinese, come again to our country, you will be followed your granpapapapa 柳升. Keep in mind for that.
Nguyen Luong Hai Khoi
Can Chinese people think reasonably? Minxin Pei said that:
“Chinese claims in the Spratlys are generally considered weak under international law because, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, China would have difficulty proving the reefs it currently occupies meet the standards of self-sustaining and inhabitable islands (which then will have a 200 miles exclusive economic zone, or EEZ). But that isn’t the case with the Paracels, which China has effective control over, but which Vietnam continues to claim. The 200-mile EEZ of the Paracels and the 200-mile EEZ extending from Vietnam’s coastal line overlap. According to reports, the incident in which a Chinese patrol boat severed the multi-million dollar seismic survey cable operated by a PetroVietnam research vessel took place in this disputed zone”
In this paragraph Minxin Pei said that:
(1) Spratlys and Paracels are different. Spratlys can’t meet the standards of self-sustaining and inhabitable islands but Paracels can. (2) Therefore, Spratlys has NOT 200 miles of EEZ, but, (3) Paracels has 200 miles of EEZ, so, (4) the incident in which Chinese Patrol boats cut the seismic survey cable operated by a PetroVietnam research vessel took place in a “disputed zone”.
This Minxin Pei’s argument is fallacious.
Spratlys and Paracels are not defferent. Arguing based on 123 article of UNCLOS, Paracels is not “island” but just “rock”. Read carefully the Article121 – Regime of islands:“ Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf”. Paracles is inhabitable and it has not the independent economic life. There are no trading, no industry, no agriculture, no economic exchange in Paracels and Spratlys. Food and water or energy for Chinese soldiers in Paracels must be provided from mainland. Furthermore, Paracels is even smaller Spartlys. If Spratlys can not “meet the standards of self-sustaining and inhabitable islands” and has not 200 miles of EEZ, Paracels is the same, too. Regardless of whichever country the islands in the South China Sea, no country can claim up to 80 percent of the South China Sea on the basis of a claim to ownership of these islands.
Sumary, the argument that Paracels has 200 miles of EEZ is just a fallacy. Therefore, the position that Chinese Patrol Boats cut the seismic survey cable operated by a PetroVietnam research vessel can’t be considered as a “disputed zone”.
The action that Chinese governmental Boats came to 80 miles of Vietnamese territorial sea and EEZ in order to cut the cable of Vietnamese seismic survey cable is truly the violent action. The target of this crude action is that making the Vietnamese territorial sea and EEZ become a “disputed zone”. This action is truly the pirates’s action. Chinese Rebulic of Pirate, don’t teach Confucian ethics while making the Pirates’ behaviors. Stop your violent actions and fallacious arguements. How can we get the Peace without the reasonable thinking based on the spirit of the laws and the principles of international democracy? http://www.vnnnews.net/notes-reveal-chinas-two-faced-position-on-un-law-of-sea
John Chan Grand Farther
@ John Chan:
Stop your smelly mouth, my grand child! you do not know anything about Chinese characteristic – not all but most of them are crafty and cruel.
I was suffered a lot in the 1979 war. I mention here a few. My house was burned completely and my relatives, my dog was shooted death, of course by Chinese soldiers. After the war, I saw and had witnesses about your Chinese people buying from Vietnamese farmers(of course in black market/illegal and of course most of farmer at that time were low education and they did not know these conspiracies/plots): – Young corn silk that preventing corn plants making full see – Cow and buffalo hooves had to kill cow and buffalo and got a good return) – later the farmers did not have cow or buffalow to work on their farm. Consequencely, farmers had a poor harvest and lost their animals to help them working on the field in the next crops.
My grand child: Avoid War and Live in Peace
Dai Viet
Great my brother. We love peace. It is not means that we afraid of them. Let try and see. We will defend our mother land and sea. Anti chinese pirates.
Observer
The incidents in which Chinese ships attacked Vietnamese ships happended INSIDE the 200 EEZ area FROM the coast of Vietnam. Chinese ships were the ones that violated the sovereign of Vietnam. Below are some of the stories around the world showing China was the aggressor/invader/bully.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-18/u-s-says-s-china-sea-events-troubling-after-vietnam-meeting.html
“….In the June 9 incident, which took place within 200 miles (322 kilometers) of the Vietnamese coastline, three Chinese vessels ran into and disabled the cables of a Vietnamese ship…”
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/5fb11326-1e0b-43c3-a517-422991444b36.aspx
“…There is also a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone that gives jurisdiction over natural resources, scientific research and building structures. Recent incidents have been inside the EEZ’s of Vietnam and the Philippines…”
For the Chinese bloggers that have no clue about the 200 miles EEZ, here is what the UN says (directly from their website).
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm
“…Coastal States have sovereign rights over the continental shelf (the national area of the seabed) for exploring and exploiting it; the shelf can extend at least 200 nautical miles from the shore..”
Do you see the last sentence? 200 nautical miles from the shore of the continental shelf of that country, NOT from the little islands that you took from another country by invastion, bloody force, and murder.
Do we get ourself loud and clear? Do you understand now and see who is the aggressor and who is the victim?