Politik - Demokratie (2014/3)

India Drops Sea Claim to Seek Offshore Oil in China Contrast

31.07.2014 By Andrew MacAskill and Arun Devnath (Bloomberg News) - India took a step toward tighter ties with Bangladesh this month in surrendering its four-decade claim to a swathe of the Bay of Bengal about the size of Lake Ontario, opting to heed a United Nations-backed ruling. Bangladesh praised its neighbor’s move, with the head of state-run oil monopoly Petrobangla saying the newfound clarity will unlock drilling opportunities.

The decision provides a contrast with China, which declines to acknowledge any UN jurisdiction in its dispute with the Philippines over maritime claims. The difference in approach shows why tensions are rising in the South China Sea as companies ramp up oil and gas investment in the Bay of Bengal.

India’s acceptance of the UN’s ruling gives Vietnam more ammunition in its “public opinion warfare” with China over disputed territory. [read more]

'Escape' China, Viet communists urge

30.07.2014 dpa (Bangkok Post) - HANOI — A former ambassador to Beijing was among 60 prominent members of Vietnam's Communist Party urging the country's leaders to "escape" reliance on China through political and economic reforms.

The letter, dated Tuesday and received by dpa Wednesday, was sent to the Central Party Committee, the party's highest level. [read more]

China Just Weaponized its Fishermen

30.07.2014 By Joshua Philipp (Epoch Time) - China has a new navy. It consists of hordes of fishermen whose boats were fitted with military-grade satellite navigation systems that link with the Chinese coastguard.

The fishermen only pay about 10 percent of the cost. The Chinese regime shoulders the rest. Once the system is installed, they also get subsidies to help the regime enforce its territorial claims.

Fishermen in Hainan are being encouraged to venture out into disputed waters, and with their satellite system they’re expected to report sightings of foreign ships. [read more]

Japan, India Link Over Aggressive China Policies

30.07.2014 Written by Harsh V. Pant (Asia Sentinel) - Leading Asian nations unite to face China challenge Asia’s leading nations have been slowly coming together to face the challenge of an assertive China. To the chagrin of Beijing, US, Indian and Japanese naval vessels gathered for a joint exercise in the Pacific ostensibly against piracy and terrorism.

The rise of nationalist leaders in Japan and India, combined with growing US concern about aggressive Chinese policy, have created new dynamics in the region. [read more]

Vietnam’s one and only trade union turns 85

29.07.2014 By Joe Buckley (Asian Correspondent) - July 28, 1929 is an important date in Vietnamese history – although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Today, the organisation is called the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), and is Vietnam’s only legal trade union. On Monday this week, it turned 85.

What is a shame, though, is that not many people have much awareness of what the union does on a day-to-day level.

The organisation certainly has some major and critical faults. Firstly, it’s state-run – independent unions are banned in Vietnam. This raises the very valid question of how anybody can expect the VGCL to truly represent workers when, in its very constitution, one of its main aims is to implement party policy. [read more]

Vietnam’s Communists Urged to Sue China

29.07.2014 Trung Nguyen (VOA) - Dozens of prominent members of Vietnam's Communist Party (VCP), voicing concerns over China’s actions in the South China Sea, are calling on their leaders to file a legal case against Beijing with the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

The petition, obtained by VOA's Vietnamese service, has been sent to the Central Committee, the highest authority within the VCP. The move comes weeks after China moved a controversial oil rig away from disputed waters near the Paracel Islands, also claimed by Vietnam.

In an open letter, the senior members wrote that Hanoi has paid a high price for conceding too much to China’s demands. [read more]

Europe sees rule of law as key in South China Sea disputes

29.07.2014 Cliff Venzon, Nikkei staff writer (Nikkei Asia Review) - MANILA -- The European Union (EU) on Tuesday prodded countries with competing territorial claims in the South China Sea to resolve their disputes peacefully through the rule of law. In a joint briefing with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario following a bilateral meeting, Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, restated the EU position:

"The European Union encourages all parties to seek peaceful solutions through dialogue and cooperation in accordance with the international law, in particular with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," Ashton said. [read more]

Vietnam buckles under Chinese pressure

29.07.2014 By Zachary Abuza (Asia Times) - Since China's July 16 withdrawal of its HYSY-981 oil exploration rig from waters claimed by Vietnam, tensions in the South China Sea have momentarily defused. But Beijing's months-long placement of the rig roughly 130 nautical miles from Vietnam's coast presented the most divisive threat in years to Hanoi's Communist Party leadership

Hanoi showed itself to be all but powerless to counter Beijing's maritime provocation. Diplomatically, China's actions fell just short enough to avoid any potential Association of Southeast Asian Nation unified front against the rig's placement. The United States, likewise, did not get involved in a meaningful way. Indeed, China may have succeeded in convincing other South China Sea claimants that the US would be an unreliable ally in future disputes in the area. [read more]

China keeps fishing fleet connected in disputed waters

28.07.2014 Reuters (The Japan Times) - TANMEN, CHINA – On China’s southern Hainan island, a fishing boat captain shows a Reuters reporter around his aging vessel. He has one high-tech piece of kit, however: a satellite navigation system that gives him a direct link to the Chinese coast guard should he run into bad weather or a Philippine or Vietnamese patrol ship when he’s fishing in the disputed South China Sea.

By the end of last year, China’s homegrown Beidou satellite system had been installed on more than 50,000 Chinese fishing boats, according to official media. On Hainan, China’s gateway to the South China Sea, boat captains have paid no more than 10 percent of the cost. The government has paid the rest.

It’s a sign of China’s growing financial support for its fishermen as they head deeper into Southeast Asian waters in search of new fishing grounds as stocks thin out closer to home. [read more]

Battered and broke, Vietnam fishermen bear brunt of China row

28.07.2014 By Nguyen Phuong Linh (Yahoo News India) – LY SON ISLAND Vietnam (Reuters) - Vietnamese fisherman Dang Van Hoanh sits on the deck of a creaky ferry, nursing a broken leg wrapped in grubby bandages and splinted with wood.

Staring out to sea, he recounts how an unidentified vessel rammed and sank his boat one night in May in South China Sea waters claimed by both Vietnam and China. One of his six crew was killed and another is still missing.

"I planned to marry after that fishing trip but we lost everything," Hoanh, 27, told Reuters as the ferry headed to Ly Son island off central Vietnam where he and many other fishermen live. "Now, I'm broke and in debt." [read more]

Papst ernennt neuen Bischof für Vietnam

26.07.2014 (Katholisch.de) Rom - Der Vatikan hat wieder eine Bischofsernennung in Vietnam vornehmen können. Pierre Nguyen Van Kham (61), bislang Weihbischof in Ho Chi Minh-Stadt (früher Saigon), wurde am Samstag, 26. Juli, vom Papst zum neuen Bischof von My Tho bestimmt. In dem Bistum im Mekong-Delta im äussersten Süden des Landes ist er für 130.000 Katholiken unter rund 5 Millionen Einwohnern zuständig. [Weiterlesen]

Hanoi konnte warten, Amerika nicht

26.07.2014 Von Michael Stürmer (Die Welt) - Die Kunst der Reportage: Uwe Siemon-Netto erinnert sich an seine Zeit als Reporter in Vietnam

Man muss es kalten Blutes sagen: Südvietnam wird wahrscheinlich nicht überleben." – So formulierte es Präsident Richard Nixon im Gespräch mit seinem Sicherheitsberater Henry Kissinger. Es war August 1972, und Nixon sah den Rückzug des amerikanischen Landungskorps und den Zusammenbruch des Südens als unausweichlich an. Kissinger stimmte zu: "Wir müssen aber eine Formel finden, die den Laden noch auf ein oder zwei Jahre zusammenhält. Kommen wir jetzt zu einem Abschluss, ist das bis Januar 74 vergessen". Januar 1974 sollte die zweite Präsidentschaft Nixons werden, die Strategie in Südostasien hatte sich dem amerikanischen Wahlkalender unterzuordnen, genauso wie das Schicksal der vom Norden hart bedrängten Südvietnamesen.

Uwe Siemon-Netto hat das damals anders gesehen, und heute, 40 Jahre später, sieht er es noch immer anders. Er war damals Korrespondent, der aus Saigon immer wieder dahin ging, wo geschossen, gequält und gestorben wurde, wo man irgendwie zu überleben versuchte, sei es als Soldat, sei es als Kriegswaise oder sei es als Familienmutter. [Weiterlesen]

Need for security network growing in Asia

25.07.2014 (Nikkei Asian Review) - TOKYO -- When a flotilla of ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet called at the Vietnamese naval base at Cam Ranh in June, it was a clear indication that Vietnam was courting Russia in a bid to counter China's growing clout.

The port call followed a sudden declaration earlier in the month by Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Pham Xuan Son that Russian ships have priority right to use the Cam Ranh Bay military base. The statement was made amid increasing confrontation between Vietnam and China in the South China Sea. [read more]

Finland Detains Vietnamese Missile Parts

Shipment of Military Hardware Was Bound For Ukraine

25.07.2014 By Juhana Rossi, Nguyen Anh Thu and Robert Wall (The Wall Street Journal) - HELSINKI—Finland has detained a shipment of Vietnamese-owned air-to-air missile parts bound for Ukraine after raising concerns the consignment of military hardware violated arms-export regulations.

Finland's customs service discovered the missile parts last month in a shipment that lacked proper approvals for military equipment to transit through its country, Sami Rakshit, head of the enforcement department at Finnish customs, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

"Vietnamese authorities have confirmed to us today that the shipment was Vietnamese government property en route for maintenance work in Ukraine as a part of routine military cooperation," Mr. Rakshit said. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Controversial Chinese Deep-Water Rig Drifts Into Calmer Seas

25.07.2014 (The Wall Street Journal) - A Chinese deep-water oil rig at the center of one of the tensest maritime standoffs between China and Vietnam in recent memory has finally moved closer to home.

China’s Maritime Safety Administration confirmed this week that the rig, HYSY 981, had taken position about 70 nautical miles southeast of China’s southern island province of Hainan. The statement, posted Thursday on the agency’s website, says the rig is scheduled to operate in the area until the end of September. [read more]

China’s SOEs test the waters in the South China Sea

24.07.2014 Authors: Megan Bowman, George Gilligan and Justin O’Brien, UNSW (East Asia Forum) - In early May, the Chinese HYSY-981 oil rig was moved into waters near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The oil rig is owned by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and operated by its subsidiary China Oilfield Services Limited. It was redeployed with Beijing’s approval to drill for another state-owned corporation, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The rig was deployed 120 nautical miles from Vietnam’s coastline and within Vietnam’s claimed exclusive economic zone. Conflict ensued between Vietnamese and Chinese sea-faring vessels and between citizens of both nations on Vietnamese soil.

On 15 July, the oil rig was moved back into Chinese waters. A CNPC press release stated that the ‘petroleum drilling and exploration operation of Zhongjiannan Project was smoothly completed on schedule on July 15th with the oil & gas shows [sic] found’, indicating that the removal was a response to commercial scheduling as opposed to foreign political pressures. [read more]

Chinese railway project in Burma cancelled, official says

24.07.2014 (Intellasia) - Nay Pyi Taw – A planned rail project to give China access to the Indian Ocean through Myanmar has been cancelled due to strong public objections and delays, a senior official said Tuesday.

The two countries had failed to carry out the contract for a 1,215-kilometre railway between western Myanmar’s Rakhine state and the Chinese city of Kunming, within three years of memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in April 2011.

“This is because we care about the people’s desires. Most people view the project as having more disadvantages than advantages,” the official told dpa

 [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam in the Shadow of China

22.07.2014 Written by Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - The ongoing maritime dispute between China and Vietnam has served to reinforce and solidify distrust among Vietnamese

The Chinese oil rig at the heart of the maritime dispute between China and Vietnam is expected to depart soon from its contentious position near the Paracel Islands. China National Offshore Oil Corporation, which operates the oil rig, deployed HD-981 to disputed waters off the coast of Vietnam in May as part of a resource exploration mission.

Relations between the two countries soon deteriorated following the placement of the oil rig. An outbreak of riots in Vietnam killed two Chinese workers and the resulted in the destruction of Taiwanese and South Korean factories. Chinese Coast Guard and Vietnamese vessels repeatedly clashed around the oil rig. [read more]

China’s control over the South China Sea

21.07.2014 Author: Peter Drysdale, Editor (East Asia Forum) - China occupies the disputed Paracel Islands and says it has ‘historical claims’ to a large part of the South China Sea, including waters that are much closer to other nations, although these claims are yet to be put to international arbitration or resolved bilaterally.

China’s assertion of its maritime claims in the South and East China Seas has affected China’s relations with the United States, which counts many of the rival claimants to the waters as allies or friends, and excited anxieties in a number of countries, not only those directly involved in the territorial disputes, throughout the region. [read more]

Krisenstimmung in Hanoi

21.07.2014 Von Wilfried Arz (Eurasisches Magazin) - Im Streit um Erdölvorkommen im West-Pazifik spitzen sich die krisengeschüttelten Beziehungen zwischen China und Vietnam zu. Hinter den gewaltsamen Übergriffen wütender Demonstranten auf chinesische Fabriken verbirgt sich mehr: Vietnams Wirtschaftskrise, Unzufriedenheit mit der KP-Herrschaft in Hanoi und Forderungen nach politischen Reformen.

Chinas Verlegung einer Erdöl-Plattform im Südchinesischen Meer in ein auch von Hanoi beanspruchtes Meeresgebiet hat im Mai 2014 in Vietnam schwere Unruhen ausgelöst. Zielscheibe wütender Demonstranten waren chinesische Industriebetriebe - aber auch Fabriken Taiwans, Südkoreas und Singapurs.

2013 legte die “Gruppe 72” - ein Zusammenschluss ehemaliger hochrangiger KP-Mitglieder, Intellektueller und pensionierter Militärs, einen Verfassungsentwurf für ein demokratisches Mehrparteiensystem vor. Hanois kommunistische Regierung selbst hatte die Bevölkerung im letzten Jahr aufgerufen, Vorschläge für eine geplante Verfassungsänderung einzureichen. Vietnams neue Verfassung (Anfang 2014 in Kraft getreten) sichert hingegen der KPV in Artikel 4 weiterhin das Herrschaftsmonopol. Schritte zu einer politischen Liberalisierung sind in Vietnam nicht erkennbar. [Weiterlesen]

Taiwan's Formosa Plastics to receive $2.39 mln in Vietnam compensation

21.07.2014 (Reuters) - Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group said on Monday it will receive $2.39 million in compensation from the Vietnamese government and a Vietnamese insurance firm for damages incurred during anti-China protests in May.

Formosa's Vietnam unit, which is building a steel project and whose shares are not listed, had been targeted in the protests by Vietnamese workers. The workers had mistakenly believed that Formosa was a China-based company. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Ukraine: Waffen aus Vietnam

20.07.2014 Von Andreas Beck (Contra-Magazin) - Wie jetzt bekannt wurde, hat der finnische Zolldienst schon vor rund drei Wochen am Flughafen Vantaa, der zur Hauptstadt Helsinki gehört, einen Container beschlagnahmt, der für die Ukraine bestimmt war. Das berichtete die finnische Zeitung „Helsingin Sanomat“. Ein Sprecher der Zoll-Verwaltung teilte mit, dass es sich bei den beschlagnahmten Gütern um Bestandteile von Raketenwaffen handle, und zwar um Komponenten von Raketenleitsystemen. Eine Genehmigung für den Transit dieser Fracht liegt nicht vor.

Abgeschickt wurden die Raketenbauteile für die Ukraine in Vietnam. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

Chinese tourists abandon Vietnam after oil rig row

20.07.2014 By Cat Barton (GMA News) - HANOI — For years Nguyen Huu Son has guided Chinese tourists around Vietnam's popular coastal city Danang, but a bitter maritime dispute between Hanoi and Beijing means he is now out of work.

Relations between the communist neighbors plunged to their lowest point in decades when Beijing moved a deep-sea oil rig into disputed waters in the South China Sea in early May, triggering deadly riots in Vietnam.

Chinese tourist arrivals to Vietnam were down 29.5 percent in June from the previous month, according to official figures.

Vietnamese tourists have also been cancelling trips to China in droves, although the government has not issued any travel warning, said one travel agent who declined to be named. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Les touristes chinois abandonnent le Vietnam après des émeutes meurtrières

20.07.2014  (Libération) - Pendant des années, Nguyen Huu Son a accompagné les touristes chinois sur la côte vietnamienne, mais après la récente intensification d'une dispute maritime entre Pékin et Hanoï, le guide est pratiquement au chômage technique.

Les relations entre les deux voisins communistes se sont détériorées après l'installation en mai par Pékin d'une plateforme pétrolière dans des eaux disputées en mer de Chine méridionale, qui a provoqué au Vietnam les émeutes anti-chinoises les plus violentes depuis des décennies.

En juin, les arrivées de touristes chinois (environ 136.700) au Vietnam ont baissé de près de 30% par rapport à mai (194.000), qui avait déjà enregistré une diminution par rapport à avril (216.600), selon les chiffres officiels.

Les touristes vietnamiens ont de leur côté aussi annulé en nombre des voyages en Chine, même si Hanoï n'a pas publié de mise en garde à ses ressortissants, selon un agent de voyage. [en savoir plus] - [tiếng Việt]

2013 sees jump in death penalty, with China, Iran and Iraq in the lead

19.07.2014 (AsiaNews) - Rome - The number of executions worldwide increased last year despite a global trend toward capital punishment abolition. This is the findings of the 2014 report entitled "The death penalty in the world", compiled by the Italian organization Hands Off Cain and presented yesterday in Rome, Italy. Asian and Middle Eastern nations are in the lead for the number of people sent to their death; Once again in 2013, China has won this sad award, followed at some distance by Iran and Iraq.

The three leading nations for the death penalty are followed by Saudi Arabia (78 executions), Somalia (at least 27), Sudan (21), North Korea (at least 17), Yemen (13) and Vietnam (8). It should be emphasized that many nations do not provide official statistics and the number could be far greater. [read more]

En el año 2013 las ejecuciones: el verdugo trabaja más en China, Irán e Irak

19.07.2014 (AsiaNews) - Roma - El número de las ejecuciones en todo el mundo creció el año pasado, no obstante haya siempre un frente más amplio de naciones, movimientos y organizaciones activistas que luchan por la moratoria de la pena de muerte. Es cuanto surge del Expediente 2014, que lleva por título "La pena de muerte en el mundo", fue realizado por expertos de Ninguno toque a Caín y presentado ayer en Roma. En los primeros tres lugares entre los Países que aplican con mayor frecuencia la pena capital hay naciones de Asia y Medio oriente; también en el año 2013 China tiene el primado, seguida a distancia por Irán e Irak.

A los 3 Países verdugos, le siguen Arabia Saudita (78 ejecuciones), Somalia (al menos 27), Sudan (21), Corea del Norte (al menos 17), Yemen (13) y Vietnam (8). Hay que hacer notar que muchas naciones no dan las estadísticas oficiales y el número podría ser más elevado. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam-China tensions a boom for Japan

19.07.2014 Yasuhiro Goto, Nikkei senior staff writer (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- China's aggressive maritime advance into the South China Sea has emerged as one of the biggest risks to Asian security.

Tensions are running particularly high in waters near the Paracel Islands, called Hoang Sa in Vietnam, because of a territorial dispute between the Southeast Asian nation and China.

A serious conflict with China would have grave economic and military costs for Vietnam. Under such circumstances, there is a growing sense of affinity toward Japan and rising expectations for partnership with the Northeast Asian nation here. [read more]

Vietnam Remembers Geneva Accords as Tensions With China Abate, for Now

18.07.2014 Marianne Brown (VOA) - Hundreds stood to sing Vietnam’s national anthem Friday morning during a ceremony in Hanoi to mark the peace agreement that brought an end to French colonial rule and partitioned the country.

The accords stated that elections would be held in 1956 to decide on a national government and in the meantime the country would be split in two - north and south - along the 17th parallel. However, the elections were never held and a decade later American troops arrived in Saigon to support the South in its war against the Communist North.

Professor Carl Thayer of the University of New South Wales in Australia said, "In 1955 it became the Republic of Vietnam as the result of elections and the Republic of Vietnam had jurisdiction over the Spratly and Paracel islands because they were below the 17th parallel. Between 1954 and 1956 the French vacated these islands and let the Republic of Vietnam put its military forces there." [read more]

Chinese papers run confessions of Japan’s war criminals — seven decades later

18.07.2014 By Simon Denyer (The Washington Post) - BEIJING — Day after day, the gory confessions spill out from China’s newspapers — rape, murder, beheadings, even a plot to infect villagers’ chopsticks and kitchen knives with typhoid bacteria. The crimes were committed by Japanese soldiers seven decades ago, but the stories are being dusted off for a new era of confrontation.

The confessions — appearing one a day, for 45 days — are part of a relentless drumbeat of anti-Japanese propaganda here. The campaign is partly timed to coincide with the 77th anniversary this month of the start of China’s war with Japan, but it is also part of a longer war of words with Beijing’s main Asian rival. The campaign is supposed to force Japan to come to terms with its wartime past, but it is also meant to inspire domestic nationalism and bolster the Communist Party’s credentials as defender of the Chinese people. [read more]

Manila urges unity for South East Asian nations in China sea dispute

18.07.2014 (Yahoo News) - MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines is pushing for a meeting among four Southeast Asian nations with conflicting claims to waters in the South China Sea so that they can hammer out a common stand in dealings with China, Manila's foreign minister said on Friday.

Manila is waging a territorial dispute with China over the Spratlys and the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, an area believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits as well as fisheries resources.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims in the sea, which is traversed each year by ship-borne trade worth about $5 trillion (£2.92 trillion).

Albert del Rosario said the Philippines wanted to hold talks with Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam before foreign ministers from regional grouping the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet for an annual conference in Myanmar next month. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

South China Sea: China’s Oil Rig and Political In-fighting in Hanoi

17.07.2014 Written by Carlyle A. Thayer (Việt Vùng Vịnh) - We are preparing an assessment on the South China Sea dispute and seek your input on how the political infighting inside the Vietnam Communist Party has prevented Vietnam from taking legal action against China.

Q1: Infighting between pro-Chinese and pro-American fractions inside the Vietnam Communist Party has constrained Vietnam from taking legal action against China even before it moved the oil rig. Can you confirm this and how would you substantiate your assessment?

ANSWER: Vietnam has been considering legal action against China for six years according to Hanoi-based sources. As a result of the current oil rig crisis Vietnam considered two separate approaches, one regarding sovereignty over the Paracels and the other over the Spratlys. The fact that Vietnam did not initiate action against China first nor support the Philippines are evidence that the legal option did not secure a majority approval in the Politburo. It was also noticeable that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung spoke strongly in public about the legal action; he stated that legal action would depend on timing. General Phung Quang Thanh said at the Shangri-La Dialogue that the legal option was a last resort. State Counsellor Yang Jiechi, during his recent visit, is reported to have warned Vietnam against taking legal action. [read more]

Gegen den Dollar: China will globale Vorherrschaft der USA brechen

17.07.2014 Georg Erber (Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten) - China möchte die USA als Weltmacht Nummer 1 ablösen. Als ersten Schritt wollen die Chinesen die Amerikaner aus ihrem Vorhof in Asien verdrängen. Danach soll der Dollar als Weltwährung verschwinden. Der größte Trumpf der Chinesen: Sie sind der größte Gläubiger der USA.

In Asien tobt bereits ein massiver Rüstungswettlauf. Japans Premierminister, Shinzo Abe, hat bereits Schritte eingeleitet, die Militäreinsätze außerhalb Japan wieder nach rund sechzig Jahren ermöglichen sollen. Japan besitzt in Asien nach China die schlagkräftigste Militärstreitmacht. [Weiterlesen]

Karte: Politische und wirtschaftliche Zentren Asiens (bbsr.bund.de)

Despite oil rig removal, China and Vietnam row still simmers

Withdrawal of rig welcomed by Hanoi and Washington, but observers still fear escalation of conflict over South China Sea

17.07.2014 Kate Hodal, South China Sea (The Guardian) - A message blared from the loudspeakers of Vietnam Coast Guard vessel CSB-8003 and echoed across the deep azure waters of the South China Sea. "This is a warning! Remove your vessels immediately!" said the automated Chinese voice. "You must remove your vessels and the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig – this is Vietnam's exclusive economic zone."

The 1,400-tonne ship, idling near a handful of Vietnamese maritime surveillance and coast guard ships, was 15 nautical miles from the 40-storey high, billion-dollar rig installed by China two months ago. But soon it was being chased away, along with the other Vietnamese vessels, by a towering Chinese maritime surveillance ship, itself defended by an armada of other Chinese vessels, including Chinese frigates and a helicopter flying overhead. [read more]

Strategic Trust, an Oil Rig and Vietnam’s Dilemma

Vietnam is forced to decide between territorial integrity and its relationship with China.

17.07.2014 By Nguyen Huu Tuc (The Diplomat) - At the 2013 Shangri-La Dialogue, one of the most substantive security dialogues in Asia, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung gave his keynote address on “Cooperation and Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific Region.” During the speech he said that, to have peace, development and prosperity, building and consolidating strategic trust is essential. I would argue that China, one of Vietnam’s closest partners, has relinquished this goodwill by losing Vietnam’s strategic trust and put Vietnam in a bind between protecting its territorial sovereignty and maintaining the status quo of its foreign policy.

Vietnam thus faces a dilemma. Many scholars have urged Hanoi to either react assertively with China, or change its foreign policy to effectively deal with Beijing’s increasingly aggressive attitude. In his article in The Diplomat, Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Associate Professor of Government and International Relations at George Mason University, suggested Vietnamese leaders have to face the fact that ideological affiliation and socialist brotherhood have failed to prevent China from encroaching on Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. [read more]

Drilling for diplomacy: How China’s rig removal affects change in Vietnam

China's decision to remove a controversial oil rig from disputed South China Sea waters may hinder Vietnamese efforts to seek new alliances

17.07.2014 Kristine Kwok (South China Morning Post) - Just 10 months ago, Pham Quang Nghi was greeted by top Chinese officials while praising the importance of fostering the "traditional relationship" with China during a visit to Beijing.

But things have changed drastically since then. On Sunday, the member of Vietnam's decision-making body, the Politburo, will lead a delegation to visit another key player in the region: the United States. In what one observer described as an unofficial "scouting trip", Nghi is expected to test how far Washington is willing to go to help Hanoi deter an increasingly assertive China in disputes that include the placement of an oil rig and sovereignty and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. [read more]

Vietnamese pop champagne as Chinese oil rig leaves

17.07.2014 By Nga Pham (BBC News) - China's decision to move its oil rig from waters claimed by both Beijing and Hanoi near the disputed Paracel archipelago followed more than two months of intense maritime activity.

The decision will come as a relief to Vietnamese fishermen who claim they have been harassed by Chinese coast guard ships operating in the area. But the new calm is an uneasy one in the choppy waters of the South China Sea.

A veteran, who had served a long time in the Vietnamese navy before joining the coast guard, said the move of the rig was "good news". "But we never know what will happen next, do we?" he asked.

Vietnam and China have had a long and turbulent history littered with conflict and mistrust. [read more]

China beendet Ölbohrung in umstrittenen Gewässern

16.07.2014 Von Till Fähnders, Singapur (FAZ) - Die Furcht vor einem militärischen Konflikt in Asien hatte zugenommen, seitdem China im Mai die Ölplattform Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981) in Gewässer brachte, auf die sowohl China als auch Vietnam Hoheitsrechte anmelden. Die Beziehungen zwischen den einstigen sozialistischen Bruderländern erreichten einen Tiefpunkt. Ursprünglich hatte das Unternehmen angekündigt, die Bohrinsel bis August in dem Gebiet zu belassen. Mit ihrer vorzeitigen Verlegung dürfte sich auch die unmittelbare Gefahr eines Militärkonflikts vorerst verringern. Zur Beruhigung der Lage könnte zudem beitragen, dass die vietnamesischen Fischer von den chinesischen Behörden kürzlich freigelassen worden waren.

Von einer Beilegung der Gebietsstreitigkeiten ist die Region allerdings noch weit entfernt. Insgesamt reklamiert China fast das gesamte Südchinesische Meer für sich. Dem Xinhua-Bericht nach könnte das Unternehmen in Zukunft die Bohrungen wieder aufnehmen. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

China retira una plataforma petrolera instalada frente a costas de Vietnam

16.07.2014 (Yahoo Finanzas España) - Una plataforma 'offshore' instalada por Pekín a comienzos de mayo en el Mar de China meridional, que dio origen a una grave crisis con Vietnam, será trasladada a las costas chinas, informó este miércoles la prensa estatal.

La misma estaba siendo utilizada en una fase de prospección y las perforaciones realizadas permitieron encontrar hidrocarburos --gas y pétróleo--, según afirmó en la víspera la agencia Xinhua.

El gigante petrolífero sino China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) estudiará ahora las muestras tomadas en el lecho marino para decidir la continuación de las operaciones, mientras que la plataforma fue relocalizada cerca de la isla de Hainan, precisó la fuente. [seguir leyendo] - [tiếng Việt]

La Chine retire une plateforme de forage au large du Vietnam

16.07.2014 (Le Huffington Post Québec) - Une plateforme offshore installée par Pékin début mai en mer de Chine méridionale, à l'origine d'une grave crise avec le Vietnam, va être rapatriée près des côtes chinoises, a rapporté la presse d'Etat.

Cette plateforme a servi à une phase d'exploration et les forages réalisés ont permis de trouver des hydrocarbures --gaz et pétrole--, a affirmé mardi soir l'agence Chine nouvelle.

Le géant pétrolier chinois China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) va désormais étudier les échantillons prélevés pour décider de la suite des opérations, la plateforme étant relocalisée vers l'île chinoise de Hainan, a précisé l'agence de presse. CNPC n'a pas précisé les réserves estimées de ces gisements. [en savoir plus] - [tiếng Việt]

Chinese Oil Rig Moved Away From Disputed Waters Off Vietnam

16.07.2014 By David Tweed and John Boudreau (Bloomberg News) - A Chinese oil company has completed drilling in disputed waters off the coast of Vietnam and moved a rig that sparked skirmishes between boats of the two countries and deadly anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam.

The HYSY 981 rig completed drilling off Zhongjian Island in the Xisha Islands, as the Paracel Islands are known in Chinese, on July 15, China Oilfield Services Ltd. (2883) said in a statement yesterday. Oil and gas resources were detected, China National Petroleum Corp., which managed the project, said in a statement.

The removal move comes one month ahead of the schedule announced by China Oilfield Services in late May. The rig will be deployed in the LingShui blocks near China’s Hainan Island, it said. Separately, China said yesterday it released 13 Vietnamese fishermen it detained for fishing in its waters. The departure of the rig may not mend ties with Vietnam, which no longer views China as a friendly ideological partner and may seek alliances with countries such as the Philippines, Japan and even the U.S., said Le Hong Hiep, a lecturer at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Is China Only Playing Catch-Up in the South China Sea

16.07.2014 Written by Khanh Vu Duc and Duvien Tran (Asia Sentinel) - A shaky argument but a muddy one

Robert Wade and Dic Lo, in a letter published by the Financial Times recently argued that China’s actions in the South China Sea and the Pacific have merely been attempts to catch up and respond to those activities occurring outside its borders.

In their letter, academics Wade and Lo said China has controlled most of the Paracel Islands since 1946; that China’s recent placement of an oil rig near the Paracels was simply an effort to catch up with other countries, whose own oil rigs were placed in the far more contentious Spratly Islands; and that China’s actions are in response to neighbors emboldened by the return of the US to the region.

The Potsdam Declaration, issued by Allied governments called for the surrender of Japan during the Second World War. Following the end of the war, the surrender of Japanese forces in Vietnam was divided along the 16th parallel, with British forces responsible for southern Vietnam and Nationalist Chinese under the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek for northern Vietnam. [read more]

China frees 13 Vietnamese fishermen, seizes boat

15.07.2014 (The New Zealand Herald) - BEIJING (AP) China's coast guard said Tuesday it released 13 Vietnamese fishermen who were seized off the country's southern coast in two separate incidents amid tensions over disputed waters.

The coast guard said it released one fishing boat but confiscated a second boat along with fishing gear and fish. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

In disputed sea, Vietnam and China play high-stakes cat and mouse

15.07.2014 By Martin Petty, near rig HD-981 South China Sea (Reuters) - Crewmen in blue camouflage uniforms pour out onto the deck of a Vietnamese coastguard ship as an imposing Chinese vessel guarding a giant oil rig gives chase, gathering steam by the second.

A plume of smoke billows out as the engines of the Vietnamese ship rev up. A message of warning in Chinese language blares out across a loudspeaker. "You must remove all vessels immediately. This is the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam," it says. The Vietnamese ship and several others on either side begin to retreat.

"Withdraw your ships and remove the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig." [read more]

In the heart of the Vietnam China standoff at sea

15.07.2014 Eunice Yoon (CNBC) - It's not often you get a chance to see one of the most dangerous flashpoints in Asia.

We went on a boat to the South China Sea to check out the latest standoff between Vietnam and China.

Hanoi believes that the waters near the Paracel Islands are part of Vietnam's own economic zone. The Chinese, who control the Paracels, claim the waters. To make their point, in May, Chinese state oil company CNOOC put an oil rig in the disputed waters, sparking a tense standoff.

The Vietnamese government, which is on a PR offensive against Beijing, organized the trip for a handful of other journalists. We were told it would take about one week and require that we transfer boats. [read more]

Asiaten fürchten Militärkonflikt mit China

Sieben von zehn Asiaten haben Angst davor, dass der Konflikt zwischen China und einem seiner Nachbarländer im Ost- und Südchinesischen Meer eskalieren könnte. Das hat eine amerikanische Umfrage ergeben

15.07.2014 Von Till Fähnders, Singapur (FAZ) - In der Bevölkerung Asiens nehmen die Befürchtungen zu, dass die diversen Territorialstreitigkeiten in der Region zu einem Militärkonflikt zwischen China und einem seiner Nachbarländer führen könnten. Das hat eine Umfrage des amerikanischen Pew Research Centre ergeben. Demnach sorgen sich sieben von zehn der Befragten auf den Philippinen, in Japan, Vietnam, Südkorea und Indien über eine mögliche Eskalation der Dispute im Ost- und Südchinesischen Meer. In allen elf untersuchten asiatischen Ländern teile mindestens die Hälfte der Menschen diese Sorge. In Amerika seien es sogar Zweidrittel der Befragten, in China 62 Prozent. Am höchsten war die Befürchtung eines Konflikts mit China auf den Philippinen mit 93 Prozent.

Mit dem Aufstieg Chinas zur Wirtschaftsmacht, der Aufrüstung des Militärs sowie einem zunehmend selbstbewussten Auftreten Pekings haben sich die Konflikte um Territorien und Seegebiete in der Region in den vergangenen Jahren verschärft. Peking streitet sich mit Tokio um eine Inselgruppe, die in Japan Senkaku und in China Diaoyu genannt wird. Im Konflikt mit Vietnam geht es vor allem um die Paracel- und die Spratly-Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer. Mit den Philippinen geht es um die Spratly-Inseln und einige weitere Atolle, Riffe und Seegebiete. Auch Malaysia und Brunei erheben Anspruch auf die Spratlys, die sich mit denen Chinas überschneiden. Im Konflikt mit Indien steht der Grenzverlauf zwischen den beiden Ländern in Frage. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

China’s Territorial Disputes Take Toll on Global Image, Pew Says

15.07.2014 By David Tweed (Bloomberg) - China’s territorial disputes are taking a toll on its image with many Asians concerned its claims will lead to military conflicts, according to a Pew Research Center report.

Majorities of people surveyed in eight of 11 Asian nations worry China’s disputes could lead to armed clashes, including 93 percent of Filipinos, 85 percent of Japanese, 84 percent of Vietnamese and 83 percent of South Koreans, the report released in Washington yesterday said.

China is embroiled in a dispute with Japan over islets in the East China Sea, with Vietnam for oil exploration in contested waters, and with the Philippines where it is building artificial islands in an area claimed by both. China also says part of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese. [read more] -  [tiếng Việt]

China’s Challenge in Africa: Avoid Blame of Neo-Colonialism

14.07.2014 Written by Gregory Chin, YaleGlobal (Asia Sentinel) - Talking about “South-South cooperation,” making plans, is easier than doing it – especially in an increasingly integrated and competitive world economy. China is learning this while navigating the growing testiness in its relations with leading economies in Africa.

China’s supersized presence in the continent offers new opportunities, but also new risks, especially to the manufacturing sectors.

The tensions came to the surface in March 2013 when Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria’s central bank governor, declared in The Financial Times, that China “is a significant contributor to Africa’s deindustrialisation and underdevelopment,” and “capable of the same forms of exploitation as the West.” [read more]

Washington pundits: 'Get tough with China'

12.07.2014 By Jeremy Au Yong (The Straits Times) - WASHINGTON pundits are calling for tougher US action to counter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, in a reflection of growing frustration after a high-level meeting in Beijing showed up the gulf in how both sides view the territorial disputes.

Speakers at a conference organised by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies here adopted a largely confrontational tone on Thursday, proposing that the United States conduct a calculated show of force and take measures to impose costs on China for any provocative acts.

Moves include increasing visible reconnaissance flights in the disputed areas, providing more equipment to allies, having military craft visit more ports in the region, and boosting the number of joint military exercises it conducts in the region. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Opinion - Vietnam’s Overdue Alliance With America

11.07.2014 By Tuong Lai (The New York Times) - OURS is a small country. We Vietnamese cannot and must not entrust our future to anyone, but we urgently need strategic allies at a moment in history when our priority is to defeat our present-day enemy: China.

China’s move in May, to place an offshore oil rig on the Vietnamese continental shelf, and its arrogant statements in June, at an Asian security summit meeting known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, exposed China’s sea piracy to the world. These developments should alarm anyone in Vietnam who still clings to the myth of brotherly love between our nation and China.

We cannot fight Chinese encroachment alone. Political isolation in a globalized world is tantamount to committing political suicide for Vietnam. And the key ally for Vietnam today is the United States [read more] 

China Tries to Flex Muscles, Making Enemies

10.07.2014 AP (Epoch Times) - BEIJING—Nearly three decades after Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping famously instructed his diplomats to “be good at maintaining a low profile and never claim leadership,” a new generation of rulers has made it clear that they’re ready to shed the humility and show off their country’s rising military and political power.

From Southeast Asian waters that may hold billions of barrels of oil to uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, China has stepped into territorial disputes with neighbors including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines — and in some cases, some would say, provoked them. At the same time, Beijing has pledged to build what it says will be a new security framework for Asia, replacing U.S.-dominated alliances that have defined the post-World War II period. [read more]

A look at China's territorial claims

10.07.2014 AP (ABC News) - TAIWAN: Taiwan itself is claimed by Beijing as a part of Chinese territory, and Beijing has vowed to bring it under control, by force if necessary. This claim has been the principal driver of the modernization of China's People's Liberation Army since the end of the Cold War. Taiwan was incorporated into the Qing Dynasty in the 17th century, then was turned into a province in 1885. It was ceded to Japan in perpetuity in 1895 then handed over to the Republic of China in 1945.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: The South China Sea, also believed to contain significant petroleum reserves, is the most complex of China's border disputes. China claims virtually the entire 425,000 square kilometers (164,000 square miles) of sea and its 750-plus islands, rocks and everything else above water, although it remains vague and inconsistent about what legal definitions apply.

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea. [read more]

Internationaler Experten-Workshop: Spratly und Paracel-Inseln gehören zu Vietnam

09.07.2014 (PolitikExpress) - Über 100 Fachexperten, Wissenschaftler und Journalisten aus den USA, Deutschland, Russland, Frankreich, Belgien, Japan, Italien, Indien, Südkoreas, Australien und den Philippinen kamen im zentralvietnamesischen Da Nang zusammen, um gemeinsam mit vietnamesischen Wissenschaftlern über den historischen Anspruch Vietnams auf die Paracel- und Spratly-Inseln zu diskutieren. Der Territorialstreit zwischen Vietnam und China, der sich bereits über Jahre hinzieht, hatte am 1. Mai 2014 mit der provokativen Platzierung der chinesischen Bohrplattform Haiyang Shi You 981 in der Nähe der vietnamesischen Insel Ly Son eine neue Eskalationsstufe erreicht. Mit der Platzierung hatte sich China über die Vereinbarung zur friedlichen Beilegung der Streitigkeiten im Südchinesischen Meer, die die beiden im Jahr 2011 unterzeichnet hatten, hinweggesetzt. Seerechtsabkommen der UNO zugunsten Vietnams Nach Meinung internationaler  Rechtexperten kann sich Vietnam auch auf das Seerechtsabkommen der Vereinten Nationen stützen. “Die Platzierung der chinesischen  Ölplattform ist eine Provokation und gefährdet den Frieden im Südchinesischen Meer. Die Handlung ist illegal”, erklärte Professor Carlyle A. Thayer von der University of South Wales. “China kann nicht einfach mit dieser Ölplattform eindringen und Öl fördern ohne die Erlaubnis Vietnams. Dies ist eindeutig Vietnams exklusive Wirtschaftszone”, so der emeritierte Professor. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

China wird immer stärker

08.07.2014 von Petra Kolonko (FAZ) - Die Konflikte in Ostasien sind weit weg. Es wäre aber ein Fehler, sie zu übersehen. China macht aus seinem Machtanspruch kein Hehl mehr. „Friedlicher Aufstieg“ heißt das zwar noch, ist aber doch bedrohlich geworden.

Der Empfang für Bundeskanzlerin Merkel in China durch die chinesische Führung ließ in Form und Gehalt nichts zu wünschen übrig. Es gab freundliche Gesten und strahlende Mienen. Wichtiger war für die chinesische Führung jedoch ein anderes Ereignis: Am Montag beging das Land den 77. Jahrestag des Beginns der japanischen Invasion in China, an den Feierlichkeiten nahm erstmals Staatspräsident Xi Jinping selbst teil, bevor er dann später mit der Kanzlerin zusammentraf.

Damit soll auch Chinas Position im Streit um die Senkaku/Diaoyu-Inseln im Ostchinesischen Meer untermauert werden, der zu einer militärischen Konfrontation mit Japan führen könnte. [Weiterlesen]

5 reasons China has no friends

08.07.2014 Ali Wyne (The Washington Post) - In 2010, then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a gathering of Asian countries that the United States “has a national interest in freedom of navigation, open access to Asia’s maritime commons, and respect for international law in the South China Sea.”

To China, those were fighting words. But surprisingly, no country came to its defense. Instead, 12 of China’s neighbors issued statements in support of Clinton’s position. Incensed, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi declared “China is a big country, and other countries are small countries, and that is just a fact.”

According to the Financial Times‘s Geoff Dyer: “In less than half an hour, Yang managed to tear up more than a decade of subtle, diligent, and highly effective Chinese diplomacy.” [read more]

Vietnam in a Quandary: China's Aggression, America's Seduction

08.07.2014  Andrew Lam (The Huffington Post) - Thi Quang Lam, a former general in the South Vietnamese army, is the author of The Twenty-five Year Century: A South Vietnamese General Remembers the Indochina War to the Fall of Saigon and most recently, Hell in An Loc: The 1972 Easter Invasion and the Battle That Saved South Vietnam. He also happens to be my father. Below is a Q&A I conducted with him on issues related to contemporary Vietnam and its growing unrest, spurred in large part by China's aggression and Hanoi's muted response.

What has China been doing that got the Vietnamese so upset?

The deployment of a Chinese oil rig within Vietnam's territorial waters about 120 nautical miles east of Vietnam's Quang Ngai province early in May added to a persistent pattern of Chinese aggression in the Asia Pacific, spanning four decades. It includes the occupation of the Paracel Islands in 1974 and of the Spratly archipelago in 1979. The acquisition of 12,000 square kilometers of territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin conceded by Hanoi under a pact signed in 2000. This is not to mention China's claims on field rich in natural gas near the Natuna Islands, 400 miles northeast of Sumatra, Indonesia, and its dispute with Japan over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. [read more]

Cambodian Protesters, Police Clash at Vietnam Embassy

08.07.2014 Heng Reaksmey (VOA) - PHNOM PENH — About 100 Cambodian students clashed briefly with police Tuesday while protesting remarks made by a Vietnamese embassy official on the issue of Cambodian land lost to Hanoi.

The protesters, from the Cambodian Students and Intellectuals movement, gathered outside the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh Tuesday. No one was seriously injured in the scuffle with police, who tried to end what city officials called an illegal assembly. [read more]

China thinks it can defeat America in battle. But it overlooks one decisive factor

07.07.2014 By David Axe (The Week) - The bad news first. The People's Republic of China now believes it can successfully prevent the United States from intervening in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or some other military assault by Beijing.

Now the good news. China is wrong — and for one major reason. It apparently disregards the decisive power of America's nuclear-powered submarines.

Moreover, for economic and demographic reasons Beijing has a narrow historical window in which to use its military to alter the world's power structure. If China doesn't make a major military move in the next couple decades, it probably never will. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam Association Demands Release of Boat, Crew from China

07.07.2014 Tra Mi (VOA) - A Vietnamese fishing association is demanding the release of a ship and crew taken into custody by Chinese authorities in the South China Sea last week.

According to the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, six Vietnamese fishermen were detained July 3 off China's Hainan Island.

But the deputy head of Vietnam's Fisheries Association, Vo Van Trac, said in an interview with VOA's Vietnamese service the arrests took place to the southeast, in waters near the Paracel Islands. [read more]

South China Sea Disputes Likely to Dominate US-China Talks

07.07.2014 Scott Stearns (VOA) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel travel to Beijing this week for meetings with their Chinese counterparts on trade and security issues. Those talks are expected to include discussions on new Chinese oil rigs in disputed waters off Vietnam that are driving up tensions in the South China Sea.

Vietnam says the oil rigs are within its territorial waters and released a video of what it says is a Chinese vessel ramming a Vietnamese fishery control boat near the site.

Vietnam is working with the Philippines on legal challenges to Chinese claims in the South China Sea -- where Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also have competing claims. Vietnam is especially vulnerable, according to American University professor Hillary Mann Leverett. [read more]

Q. and A.: Lyle Goldstein on China and the Vietnamese Military

05.07.2014 By Jane Perlez (Sinosphere/The New York Times) - Prof. Lyle J. Goldstein, associate professor at the China Maritime Studies Institute at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, is well qualified to examine the capacities of the Chinese and Vietnamese militaries. The two armies worked together in Vietnam to topple the French in the 1950s, and to defeat the Americans in the Vietnam War. In 1979, the Chinese invaded Vietnam — to teach its neighbor a lesson for invading Cambodia, said Deng Xiaoping — and the Chinese retreated with stunning casualties in less than a month. That humbling experience was an impetus for the Chinese to begin the modernization of their armed forces. [read more]

Vietnam’s precarious strategic balancing act

05.07.2014 Author: Huong Le Thu, ISEAS (East Asia Forum) - The Vietnam–US partnership indicated an ongoing commitment to existing cooperation in trade, education and development. For Vietnam, it was beneficial to be included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). A partnership with the US also positively contributed to Vietnam’s hedging strategy against China, while opening the door to further strengthen ties with the US. For Washington, a new partner with strong strategic assets in Southeast Asia was a significant component in its balancing strategy.

Hanoi’s expansion and diversification of its foreign relations in 2013 can also be seen as a form of preventive diplomacy. Hanoi had been fearful that disputes on the South China Sea would escalate.

The Hai Yang Shi You 981 (HYSY 981) oil rig crisis has shown that these fears were well founded. [read more]

Shadow of Brutal ’79 War Darkens Vietnam’s View of China Relations

05.07.2014 By Jane Perlez (The New York Times) - The conflict between China and Vietnam in 1979 lasted less than a month. But the fighting was so ferocious that its legacy permeates the current sour relations between the two Communist countries now at odds over hotly contested waters in the South China Sea.

Both sides declared victory then, though neither side prevailed, and both armies suffered horrendous losses.

“People in Vietnam want to be outside China’s grip,” said Pham Xuan Nguyen, chairman of the Hanoi Literature Association, who protested against the oil rig outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi. “But the Vietnamese people are wondering what is the strategy of the government, and wondering if the government is really against China or compromising.” [read more]

China’s ‘New’ Language of Diplomacy

04.07.2014 Written by Tuan V. Nguyen (Asia Sentinel) - A notable characteristic of Chinese officials in international conferences and media is that their language is unusually blunt and rude in a manner that has done nothing to aid China’s effort to be recognized as a civilized member of the world diplomatic community.

Among Chinese officials and diplomats, politeness and respect seem absent from their discourse in international forums. After a recent visit to Vietnam, Yang Jiechi, a state councilor with a foreign policy portfolio, declared in the Chinese media that his objective was to lecture his Vietnamese counterparts.

A certain section of the Chinese media even called Vietnam a “prodigal son.” The comments were made amid a dangerous standoff between China and Vietnam in the disputed Paracel Islands. The language is patronizing and impudent. Indeed, to many Vietnamese, the reference of “prodigal son” is not only offensive, but can also be likened to an ideology of colonialism. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China detains six Vietnamese fisherman in disputed waters

05.07.2014 (ABC Radio Australia) - Chinese authorities have arrested six Vietnamese fishermen, in a move that could increase tensions in the South China Sea.

Vietnam says the men and their boat were detained in disputed waters, where the two countries had been confronting each other over a Chinese oil rig in recent weeks.

China's coastguard says the Vietnamese were in their territorial waters, just off the island of Hainan on Thursday.

Vietnamese state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reports that the six men were detained by a Chinese fisheries surveillance vessel in "common fishing grounds" in the Tonkin Gulf in the disputed South China Sea.

According to an official in Vietnam's central Quang Ngai province, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the seizure of the fishing vessel and its crew was witnessed by other Vietnamese sailors in the area. [read more]

Vietnam denuncia la captura de pesquero vietnamita por parte de barcos chinos

04.07.2014 (Univision) - Bangkok, 4 jul (EFE).- Varios barcos chinos, incluido al menos uno oficial, han capturado a un pesquero vietnamita cuando faenaba en aguas próximas a las islas Paracel, cuya soberanía se disputan ambos países, denunció hoy Vietnam.

El jefe de la asociación comunal de pescadores del distrito de Duc Pho, Phan Hien, informó de que el incidente ocurrió el jueves por la mañana cuando el barco vietnamita QNg 94912 TS operaba en "aguas territoriales" alrededor de las Paracel y varios buques chinos lo rodearon y se lo llevaron remolcado, según el diario local "Tuoi Tre".

Un pescador vietnamita que se encontraba en la zona en ese momento presenció lo sucedido y lo comunicó por "walkie-talkie" a las autoridades de su país y a la familia del propietario del pesquero. [seguir leyendo]

China confirma la detención de un pesquero vietnamita en aguas disputadas

04.07.2014 (ABC.es) - Pekín, 4 jul (EFE).- El Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores chino anunció hoy que sus guardacostas detuvieron a un pesquero de Vietnam con seis tripulantes por operar ilegalmente en aguas del Mar de China Meridional, donde ambos países mantienen una disputa por la soberanía de los archipiélagos Paracel y Spratly.

El portavoz de la Cancillería china Hong Lei confirmó la detención, de la que había informado previamente la prensa de Vietnam, y aseguró que se produjo el jueves, a tan sólo siete millas náuticas (unos 13 kilómetros) del puerto de Sanya, en la isla de Hainan, lejos de los archipiélagos en conflicto. [seguir leyendo]

Lawfare or Warfare?: History, International Law and Geo-Strategy

04.07.2014 Carl Thayer (The Diplomat) - Carl Thayer reports on Vietnam’s Da Nang conference on the status of the Paracel Islands.

In March this year, Pham Van Dong University and the University of Da Nang teamed up to invite foreign scholars and legal experts to attend an international workshop on “Sovereignty Over the Paracel and Spratly Archipelagos: Historical and Legal Aspects” (later renamed Historical Truths) from June 19-21. The workshop was held in the central coastal city of Da Nang opposite the Paracel Islands.

The workshop was attended by over 120 delegates, including specialists invited from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, and the United States. There were no representatives from mainland China or Taiwan. ...

The workshop served two purposes. First, up until last year all international workshops on the South China Sea in Vietnam were held under the sponsorship of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Vietnam Lawyer’s Association in either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. The convening of the first international workshop on the South China Sea in Quang Ngai City in 2013 and the second international workshop in Da Nang City is an indication that central authorities are responding to pressure from below for a full airing of views on the South China Sea.

Second, this year’s international workshop exposed Vietnamese scholars, policy-makers and their foreign guests to a remarkably free-wheeling, in-depth discussion of key historical, legal and geo-strategic issues. Clearly, Vietnam is reaching out to the international community for support and for policy recommendations as it works out an effective strategy to counter China’s latest challenge to Vietnam’s sovereignty. [read more]

What is behind China's new belligerence?

So much for a peaceful rise... 

04.07.2014 By Kyle Mizokami (The Week) - In the past nine months, the People's Republic of China has been on a bender. It has picked fights and barged into territory claimed by Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines, using planes, ships, even an oil rig, to bully its neighbors.

For the last two decades, China's neighbors have nervously looked on and wondered if a strong economy and increased military spending might create a China more willing to use force to solve territorial disputes. Those fears seemed to have been unfounded, as China turned out to be a relatively benign neighbor.

In 2010, all of that started to change. A dispute with Japan over a Chinese fisherman arrested for fishing in territory claimed by both countries quickly turned ugly, with widespread anti-Japanese protests throughout China. The protests were deeply nationalist in nature with evidence of tacit approval of the Chinese government. [read more]

Vietnam dice que plataforma petrolera en aguas en disputa viola leyes internacionales

03.07.2014 Escrito por Mong Palatino, Traducido por María Angélica Marín (Global Voices Español) - Nguyen Thi Lan Anh de la Academia diplomática de Vietnam explica [en] porqué China cometió un error al mover una plataforma petrolera en las aguas en disputa entre China y Vietnam.

"El acto de China de localizar una plataforma petrolera en las disputadas aguas de Paracels es más que una disputa sobre la soberanía, es también una disputa sobre la ley internacional del mar." [seguir leyendo]

Vietnamese fishermen left out to dry

The South China Sea dispute is hitting Vietnamese fishermen, who face harassment at sea from Chinese patrols.

03.07.2014 Roberto Tofani (Aljazeera) - Da Nang, Vietnam - When the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) placed its first oil rig, HD-981, about 130 nautical miles (nm) from the Vietnamese coast, at the beginning of May, relationships between the two countries became strained. Both claim sovereignty over the Paracel islands, an archipelago just off the coast - and China's unilateral decision has even alerted the US, with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel singling out China's "destabilising" actions against its maritime neighbours at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

The South China Sea is now a major flashpoint and topic of debate at high-level security meetings and multilateral forums. But far from the corridors of power, the standoff between China and Vietnam affects Vietnamese fishermen unable to fish in their usual waters. [read more]

China's growing image problem in Myanmar

03.07.2014 Fiona Macgregor (Nikkei Asian Review) - YANGON -- When protesters against a copper mine in central Myanmar recently took two Chinese contractors hostage, the incident sparked reports about growing anti-China sentiment in a country long reliant on investment from its giant neighbor.

Some commentators were quick to link the kidnapping with violent protests in the Philippines and Vietnam against China's economic encroachment and territorial claims. But anger over the Letpadaung mine at Monywa, about 135km west of Mandalay, predates the recent flare-up in tempers over territory. There is a swelling backlash, from the government level on down, against China's pervasive role in Myanmar and its unrivaled dominance during the Southeast Asian country's long economic isolation from the West. [read more]

Vietnamesische Fischer im Streit mit China

02.07.2014 Rodion Ebbighausen, Ly Son, Vietnam (DW) - Den Preis für die Inselstreitigkeiten im Südchinesischen Meer zahlen vor allem die Fischer der Region. Diese haben oft keine andere Wahl, als sich zwischen die Fronten zu begeben.

Nicht weit entfernt von der zentralvietnamesischen Küste entfernt, erhebt sich ein kleines Vulkaneiland aus der Südchinesischen See. Am Fuße des von Wind und Wetter rundgeschliffenen Kegels liegen leuchtend grüne Reisfelder, in den Häfen schaukeln die rot-blauen Boote der Fischer. Ein Paradies - aber nur auf den ersten Blick. Wer genauer hinsieht, bemerkt eine Vielzahl militärischer Einrichtungen. Auf der ganzen Insel stehen Funkmasten, den Gipfel des Vulkans dominert eine Radarstation, die den Schiffsverkehr im Südchinesischen Meer überwacht. Oberhalb einiger Klippen weht eine überdimensionale vietnamesische Flagge. [Weiterlesen]

Philippines, Vietnam criticize China over dispute

02.07.2014 (NKH) - Foreign ministers from the Philippines and Vietnam have criticized China for installing an oil rig near a group of disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met in Hanoi on Wednesday. The countries have territorial disputes with China over islands in the South China Sea. [read more]

Time for the US to Get Tough on Vietnam

01.07.2014 Written by Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - Ultimatum to change needed.

The United States’ engagement with Vietnam is, in large part, a failure. Hanoi continues to ply benefits from the US while offering little in return. It is time for the US to demand what kind of relationship Hanoi is seeking with Washington.

A clear distinction must first be made between Vietnam and the country’s government in Hanoi: the former comprises the Vietnamese people and the latter the Communist Party. To conflate the two as one and the same would be grossly erroneous.

This is not a recommendation of replacing one corrupt, autocratic regime with another one more attuned to American interests. Rather, in understanding and acknowledging the aspirations of the Vietnamese people, this is a recommendation that Washington cease playing Hanoi’s games and demands better, not only for the Vietnamese people but for Washington, as well. [read more]

China fires up arms race against Japan

01.07.2014 Tetsuro Kosaka, Nikkei senior staff writer (Nikkei Asian Review) - TOKYO -- China has been stepping up military provocations against Japan in the East China Sea amid high tensions there due to the bitter dispute over a group of small, uninhabited islets.

Chinese ships have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands, which are called Diaoyu in China, while Chinese planes also have flown unusually close to Japanese Self-Defense Forces aircraft on two occasions.

Japan's air and naval forces in the East China Sea are said to still be superior to China's. But China is building up its military strength rapidly, forcing Japan to take countermeasures. [read more]

Q. and A.: Edmund Malesky on Vietnam and China

30.06.2014 By Edward Wong (The New York Times) - Edmund J. Malesky, an associate professor of political economy at Duke University, has spent years studying the politics of Vietnam. More recently, he has been working on a governance project involving China. His scholarship on the two countries, both ruled by Communist parties with close ties, has given him a basis for a comparative perspective on the nations’ politics and political economies. In early May, a Chinese state-owned oil company moved an exploratory oil rig into waters off the disputed Paracel Islands and the Vietnamese coast, igniting violent populist protests in Vietnam. Weeks later, Mr. Malesky flew to Vietnam to attend a meeting between the government and representatives of foreign investors that had been previously scheduled. He was able to see up close the political impact of China’s decision and the nationalist discourse that had taken hold in Vietnam. After returning to the National University of Singapore, where he is spending a sabbatical, he answered questions on Vietnam and China. [read more]

Amid active territorial disputes, China's president tells others to pursue peace

29.06.2014 William Wan (The Sydney Morning Herald ) - Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping deployed an unusual defence on Saturday of China's foreign and military policies: the celebration of an obscure, decades-old treaty called the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

Alongside Myanmar's president and India's vice-president, Mr Xi presided over an event replete with lofty ideals. Ostensibly, the ceremony's goal was to commemorate the treaty's 60th anniversary.

To many Asian leaders, China's foreign policy of late has been anything but aimed at peaceful coexistence. China has engaged in volatile confrontations with several neighbours over claims in the South China Sea.

China's navy remains in a stand-off with the Philippines over a region called the Scarborough Shoal. And China's relations with Japan have been tense since China last year declared an air defence identification zone over disputed islands. The United States, Japan's ally, promptly responded by sending two bombers through the zone. [read more]

China says it will never seek regional hegemony

29.06.2014 The Associated Press (The Asahi Shimbun) - BEIJING--Chinese President Xi Jinping said June 28 his country will never seek hegemony no matter how strong it becomes, even as his neighbors worry about Beijing's actions in several territorial disputes.

Xi made the comments as he hosted leaders of India and Myanmar to commemorate 60 years since their countries agreed to principles of peaceful coexistence.

At the same time, China is quarreling with several neighboring countries, including India, over territory and is challenging U.S. power in the region. In November, China declared an air defense identification zone over much of the East China Sea, where it is disputing several islands with Japan. [read more]

Build strong border defences, Xi Jinping tells Chinese military

28.06.2014 (indiatimes) - BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked the military to build a strong and solid border defence network to protect territorial land and water frontiers to deter "bullying" by foreign powers.

Xi told China's frontier defenders to meticulously monitor control the borders and to mount actions to defend the country's maritime rights, while implementing an overall national security outlook.

According to Chinese officials, China has settled border disputes with 12 of its 14 neighbours except India and Bhutan. [read more]

The Paracels: Forty Years On

09.06.2014 By Nguyen Thi Lan Anh (RSIS Commentaries) - China’s act of locating its oil rig in contested waters in the Paracels is more than a dispute over sovereignty. It is also a dispute about international law of the sea.

Vietnam’s sovereignty claim over the Paracel Islands is based on the Nguyen dynasty occupation of the Paracels and Spratlys from at least the 17th century when the islands belonged to no one. During the period of Western colonial expansion sovereignty over the Paracels was continuously exercised by France, the protectorof Vietnam. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

An Arms Race Explodes in Asia-Pacific

26.06.2014 Written by Keith Leong (Asia Sentinel) - China leads the expansion although the US remains by far the biggest spender

The Asia-Pacific region is now well and truly in an arms race like no other.  China alone is said to have quadrupled its military spending since 2000. Indeed, in 2013 Asian countries spent a combined US$322 billion on military budgets compared to US$262 billion in 2010.

Despite global military spending falling in 2013 by 1.9 percent in real terms, Asian expenditures have continued to rise. Indeed, a report from that year by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has argued that while military spending has fallen in the West, it has continued to increase in every other region. [read more]

New Chinese map gives greater play to South China Sea claims

25.06.2014 (asiaone) - AP - BEIJING - China has unveiled a new official map of the country giving greater play to its claims on the South China Sea, state media said on Wednesday, making the disputed waters and its numerous islets and reefs more clearly seem like national territory.

Previous maps published by the government already include China's claims to most of the South China Sea, but in a little box normally in a bottom corner to enable the rest of the country to fit on the map.

The new, longer map dispenses with the box, and shows continental China along with its self-declared sea boundary in the South China Sea - stretching right down to the coasts of Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines - on one complete map. [read more]

Vietnam, China Spar Over Vessel-ramming Near Oil Rig

25.06.2014 Tra Mi (VOA) - Vietnam and China on Tuesday traded accusations that each had rammed a vessel owned by the other near a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters.

The Deputy Head of the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department, Ha Le, told VOA Tuesday that two Vietnamese sailors were injured and one Fisheries Surveillance ship was severely damaged when seven Chinese ships chased the Vietnamese vessel before ramming it Monday. [read more]

Asian democracy: fact or figment of the imagination? A debate between two Asian leaders is still unresolved

25.06.2014 Cristian Martini Grimaldi, Seoul (ucanews) - In political terms, Asia has it all: the world’s largest functioning democracy (India), the world’s most ruthless totalitarian state (North Korea) and everything in between, from centrally controlled authoritarian fortresses (China, Laos, Vietnam) to wannabe democracies (Indonesia) to amorphous muddles where vote buying and corruption are rife, and a political appointment is seen as nothing more or less than a ticket for the gravy train (Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines). Which of these systems -- or non-systems -- is most likely to prevail across the continent?

This age-old question gave rise to a memorable dispute 20 years ago, between the former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, and Kim Dae-jung, who later became president of South Korea.

It is difficult to say, 20 years later, who was the winner of this debate, if indeed there was one. [read more]

Vietnams Sorge: Chinas bedrohlicher Aufstieg

25.06.2014 Rodion Ebbighausen, z.Zt. Danang (Deutsche Welle) - Der Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer weckt in Südostasien tief verwurzelte Ängste: vor einer chinesischen Dominanz: Wie schwierig der Umgang mit der neuen Großmacht ist, zeigt ein Besuch in Vietnam.

Im vietnamesischen Staatsfernsehen läuft die patriotische Stimmungsmache zu immer neuen Hochformen auf. Die Regierung in Hanoi setzt auf Emotionen - und die Botschaft ist klar: Truong Sa und Hoang Sa, wie die beiden von China und Vietnam beanspruchten Inselgruppen im Südchinesischen Meer auf Vietnamesisch heißen, gehören zu Vietnam. Punkt.

China betreibe im Südchinesischen Meer eine neue Form der expansiven Außenpolitik, die bald auch in anderen Regionen Anwendung finden könnte, da sind sich die Asien-Experten einig. [Weiterlesen]

China blames Vietnam anew in sea clash

25.06.2014 Reuters (abs-cbn) - BEIJING - Beijing on Tuesday called for peace to return to disputed waters in the South China Sea after Hanoi released footage showing Chinese vessels ramming into a Vietnamese boat.

Vietnamese state media VTV reported on Monday (June 23) that seven Chinese vessels rammed into the left flank of one of its boats, leaving its hull heavily damaged.

The report said no one was hurt in the collision.

The incident took place 11.5 nautical miles away from a Chinese-owned oil rig parked 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam. Hanoi says the rig is in its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. [read more]

Business and Politics in the South China Sea: Explaining HYSY 981’s Foray into Disputed Waters

24.06.2014 By: Erica S. Downs (Brookings) - At 9:00 A.M. on May 9, 2012, Chinese executives and government officials gathered at the headquarters of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to celebrate the commencement of drilling by HYSY981, the country’s first home-grown deepwater semisubmersible drilling platform. The guests included representatives of the China Shipbuilding Corporation, Shanghai Waiqiao Shipbuilding Corporation, Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Transport, State Administration of Work Safety, State Oceanic Administration, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, General Administration of Customs, State Administration of Taxation, National Energy Administration and armed forces. A deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council read a congratulatory message from then-vice premier Li Keqiang (China Offshore Oil News, May 11, 2012).

The presence of so many government officials to mark HYSY 981’s maiden voyage two years ago highlighted the rig’s political importance. HYSY 981 was part of China’s 863 Program, an initiative launched in March, 1986 to narrow the technological gap between China and the world’s most advanced economies (Ministry of Science and Technology, September 21, 2010). [read more]

What’s Happening in the China Sea and Why You Should Care (+Interactive Map)

24.06.2014 By Karen Cheng (The Epoch Times) - The South China Sea hosts one of the world’s most important trade routes due to its proximity to China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines, which are many of the world’s most dynamic economies. Roughly a third of global crude oil and half of global liquid natural gas trade passes through the South China Sea.

Over time, claims over the disputed areas have become increasingly rigid. China in particular has made increasingly brazen claims. China has turned to military power to exert its presence in both the South and East China Sea regions, and has built structures to occupy disputed territory. [read more]

Aquino, Abe to discuss new China strategy

24.06.2014 By Nikko Dizon, Philippine Daily Inquirer (INQUIRER.net) - TOKYO—President Aquino and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to examine China’s island-chain defense strategy as they open talks here on Tuesday to explore security cooperation in the face of Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

China is reclaiming land on various reefs in the South China Sea in what security experts believe is a first step to building lines of offshore defense to protect the mainland, part of Beijing’s ultimate aim of dominating the Asia-Pacific region as an economic and military superpower.

The Philippines and Japan, both rivals of China for territory in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea, as well as Vietnam in the East Sea are very much a consideration in Beijing’s aim of establishing geopolitical dominance in the region.

But more than its territorial rivalry with its East Asian and Southeast Asian neighbors, China is concerned about the United States’ planned “pivot” to Asia under which it will move 60 percent of its warships to the region by the end of this decade. [read more]

Chinese ships ram, damage Vietnamese vessel

24.06.2014 (The Manila Times) - HA NOI: A ship belonging to the Viet Nam Fishing Surveillance Department was deliberately rammed and seriously damaged by two Chinese ships illegally operating in Vietnamese waters.

The action continued China’s flagrant violation of international law in placing an oil rig in Vietnamese seas and preventing the nation’s vessels from engaging in their normal activities.

At 9:30 a.m. Monday, two Chinese tugboats 284 and 285 and a maritime patrol ship No. 11 blocked Vietnamese fishing surveillance ship KN-951 and steadied it on one side.

The action allowed tugboat coded Xinhai 285 to ram the other side, seriously damaging the ship. [read more]

Vietnam Vows Stand Against China as Sea Collisions Continue

24.06.2014 By John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen (Bloomberg News) - Vietnam accused Chinese ships of ramming one of its fishing boats yesterday, saying relations between the two countries have been “deeply damaged” by the their standoff over a disputed oil rig in the South China Sea.

A high-level meeting between Vietnamese leaders and China’s top foreign policy official on June 18 failed to ease the daily sea skirmishes near the oil rig. The dispute is fraying ties between the communist countries and adding to regional tensions even as leaders from both sides promised to manage disagreements ‘‘using peaceful measures.’’

The sea strife poses the most serious foreign policy crisis for Vietnam’s leaders in decades, said Ha Hoang Hop, visiting senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. “Vietnam’s politburo is torn about their policy on Vietnam’s relationship with China,” he said in a phone interview. [read more]

Man who set himself on fire in East Manatee dies; suicide note suggests it was protest of China

24.06.2014 By Mark Young (Bradenton Herald) - MANATEE -- The 71-year-old Vietnamese man who set himself on fire Friday in an apparent suicide attempt died Monday morning, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

The victim, identified as Thu Hoang, was a resident in the Silver Lake community on 59th Avenue East on Lockwood Ridge Road where the incident occurred, according to public records.

The act was an apparent protest of a Chinese state-owned oil rig being placed into waters contested by Vietnam in the South China Sea -- an area of growing tension among the two countries where Chinese and Vietnamese fishing vessels often cross paths. Vietnam claims the waters where the rig was placed by China. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam: Innerer Wandel durch äußeren Konflikt

23.06.2014 (Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung) - Der Konflikt zwischen Vietnam und China um die Rohstoffe im südchinesischen Meer könnte Vietnam mehr Demokratie bringen, so die Einschätzung der Stiftungsexperten im Hintergrundbericht. Zivilgesellschaftliche Gruppe, Intellektuelle und Oppositionelle nehmen die Auseinandersetzung mit dem großen Nachbarn zum Anlass, um die Abgrenzung von China zu propagieren. Eine Hinwendung zu westlichen Partnern, wie den USA, müsste allerdings von politischen Reformen begleitet werden.

Bei einer Diskussionsveranstaltung formulierten Wissenschaftler drei Prinzipien und sieben Säulen für eine unabhängige Entwicklung Vietnams. Zu den Säulen zählt auch eine demokratische Organisation. „Die Bedrohung durch China, dem oft ‚ungeliebten‘ Nachbarn mit dem gleichen politischen Modell, könnte ein willkommener Anlass werden, Vietnams Entwicklung in Richtung westlicher Demokratien voranzutreiben“, heißt es im Bericht des Stiftungsbüros in Hanoi. [Weiterlesen] - [PDF]

Beijing 'setting precedent' in South China Sea

23.06.2014 Gabriel Domínguez (Deutsche Welle) - China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea amid mounting regional tensions. Analyst Ian Storey tells DW Beijing is likely to deploy more rigs in the future as it intends to assert its "historic rights."

China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea in a bid to step up exploration for oil and gas in the in the potentially energy-rich waters. In a DW interview, Ian Storey, an analyst at the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), tells DW the deployment of the rigs highlights Beijing's determination to assert jurisdictional claims in the South China Sea and that the international community only has very limited options to stop it.

The international community should also continue to emphasize the importance of freedom of navigation, and that China should bring its claims into line with UNCLOS. At the end of the day though, this crisis will only be resolved when China withdraws the oil rig which it says it will do on August 15. [read more]

US Withholds Judgment on China Oil Rigs

23.06.2014 Victor Beattie (VOA) - WASHINGTON — The United States says it will withhold judgment for now on the intended destination of four new Chinese oil rigs in the disputed South China Sea. It appears that Beijing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas two months after positioning a giant drilling platform in waters also claimed by Vietnam.

Carl Thayer, professor emeritus at Australia’s University of New South Wales, who returned from a meeting on South China Sea disputes in Vietnam, says the more rigs China puts in place, the more difficult it will be for Hanoi to monitor them.

"One, two, three, four rigs would stretch Vietnamese paramilitary and fishery surveillance forces to the limit," he said. "Vietnam doesn’t have an awful lot of ships, I think there are 40 total in the coast guard, and they are one-half the size and weight of the Chinese vessels, at least. So, it would be an unequal contest if Vietnam tried adopting the same kind of tactics of protesting." [read more]

Mapa: China instala 4 plataformas petrolíferas más en las aguas en disputa

22.06.2014 (RT) - China ha desplegado 4 torres petrolíferas en el Mar de China Meridional, zona reclamada por Vietnam, dos meses después de instalar dos plataformas de perforación (una gigante y otra más pequeña) en aguas disputadas.

Las cuatro torres de perforación se encuentran en aguas de la costa de las provincias meridionales de Guangdong y Hainan, informa la agencia estatal de noticias Xinhua, citando al portavoz de la Cancillería china, Hua Chunying [seguir leyendo]

‘China wants to seize more sea’

22.06.2014 (The Manila Times) - DA NANG: Vietnam and regional countries should raise world alarm about China’s nine-dash claim to much of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), retired French general Daniel Schaeffer told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos here.

Schaeffer, an expert on Chinese issues at France’s Asia Research Center, said China wanted to seize more sea within the U-shaped line claim it had marked out and then force other countries in the region to recognize the claim.

“Vietnam and regional countries should drum up the world community about China’s claim,” he added.

“It needs efforts to delete the claim before solving any disputes of sovereignty. The best way of solving the problem is by raising international alarm,” Schaeffer said. [read more]

Vietnam – das heimliche Pulverfass

22.06.2014 Von Eva Dou und Richard C. Paddock (The Wall Street Journal Deutschland) - HANOI — Anfang Mai bekamen einige vietnamesische Netzaktivisten für mehr Demokratie in Vietnam unerwartet Anrufe von einem ehemaligen leitenden Polizeioffizier.

Die Blogger planten für den 11. Mai eine Demonstration gegen die von China installierte Bohrplattform in Küstengewässern, die von Vietnam beansprucht werden. Man werde die Proteste dieses Mal zulassen, sagte der Ex-Polizist, der einst den Rang eines Generals bekleidet hatte. So beschreibt es Nguyen Van Dai, der Organisator der Demonstration, der seine Aktivitäten für mehr Demokratie in Vietnam bisher mit vier Jahren Gefängnis bezahlt hat.

Was danach geschehen ist, dürfte für Investoren, die das autoritäre Regime in Vietnam bisher als Garant für stabile Verhältnisse und geringe Risiken gesehen haben, eine Warnung sein.

Anfänglichen friedlichen Demonstrationen, die die Aktivisten in vier Städten organisiert hatten, folgten Unruhen in drei Provinzen, die in Wellen kamen und vor allem die wichtigen Produktionszentren des Landes ins Visier nahmen. Fünf Menschen wurden dabei getötet und hunderte Fabriken, die chinesischen und anderen ausländischen Firmen gehören, geplündert und in Brand gesteckt.

Die vietnamesische Regierung wollte sich zu der Schilderung des Dissidenten nicht äußern. Auch auf wiederholte Nachfrage gab es keinen Kommentar zu der Frage, warum sie die Demonstration vom 11. Mai laufen ließ. [Weiterlesen]

"Eines Tages werden sie uns angreifen"

21.06.2014 Von Angela Köckritz (Zeit Online) - Schiffe patrouillieren, Bürger demonstrieren: China und Japan streiten um eine Inselgruppe. In der Region entbrennt der Nationalismus.

Die Haie, der Taifun, die Chinesen! Was hätte nicht alles passieren können, als sich der japanische Rockmusiker Tokuma Suginomori, 47, in die Fluten des Ostchinesischen Meeres stürzte, eine patriotische Heldentat zu vollbringen. Er sprang über Bord, kraulte durch die Wellen, zog sich ans Ufer. Tokuma hat ein Video über die Reise drehen lassen. Darauf sieht man ihn, wie er am Inselstrand steht, das lange Haar von Wind und Meer zerzaust. Er hält einen Plastikbesen in der Hand, als sei’s eine E-Gitarre, und singt seinen patriotischen Hit "Ich liebe Japan".

"Eines Tages werden sie uns angreifen", röhrt er, "über das Meer." Sie, das sind die Chinesen, mit denen Japan im Streit liegt um eine Inselgruppe im Ostchinesischen Meer. [Weiterlesen]

China sends four oil rigs to South China Sea amid regional tensions

21.06.2014 (The Asahi Shimbun) - BEIJING/HONG KONG--China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Beijing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a giant drilling platform in waters claimed by Vietnam.

The announcement comes at a time when many countries in Asia are nervous at Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the potentially energy-rich waters, where sovereignty over countless islands and reefs is in dispute.

Coordinates posted on the website of China's Maritime Safety Administration showed the Nanhai number 2 and 5 rigs had been deployed roughly between China's southern Guangdong province and the Pratas Islands, which are occupied by Taiwan. The Nanhai 4 rig was towed to waters close to the Chinese coast. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Peking schickt weitere Ölplattformen in Südchinesisches Meer

20.06.2014 (Tiroler Tageszeitung) - Peking (APA/AFP) - Inmitten der Territorialstreitigkeiten mit Vietnam hat China weitere vier Ölplattformen in das von beiden Ländern beanspruchte Südchinesische Meer geschickt. Drei „Nanhai“-Bohrinseln mit den Ziffern zwei, vier und fünf seien bereits an ihren Zielorten und würden dort in den kommenden vier bis acht Wochen Öl fördern, so die Chinesische Behörde für Meeressicherheit laut Staatsmedien vom Freitag.

General Nguyen Quang Dam von der vietnamesischen Gewässerpolizei sagte der staatlichen Zeitung „Thanh Nien“, „Nanhai neun“ habe Kurs auf ein Gebiet genommen, in dem China bereits vor fünf Jahren mehrere Bohranlagen installiert habe. „Wir beobachten die Lage genau und haben bereits Maßnahmen vorbereitet, um auf die möglichen Szenarien reagieren zu können“, sagte er. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

Beijing ignores Hanoi (and Manila), builds three new drilling rigs in South China Sea

20.06.2014 By NH (AsiaNews) - Hanoi - Within the next two years, Beijing plans to build three more oil rigs off the Spratly and Paracel islands in the South China Sea, an area at the centre of a fierce territorial dispute with Hanoi and Manila.

By its action, China seems bent on pursuing its claims in the Pacific despite a rising tide of protest by other countries of the area.

Meanwhile, talks between top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese officials in Hanoi have been inconclusive.

In the Vietnamese capital, nationalists held anti-Beijing protests during the diplomat's visit, quelled by Vietnamese police who dispersed demonstrators and made at least seven arrests. [read more]

La Chine envenime sa querelle maritime avec le Vietnam

20.06.2014 Par Patrick Saint-Paul (Le Figaro) - Pékin achemine une nouvelle plateforme pétrolière en mer de Chine méridionale à proximité d'îlots revendiqués par Hanoï.

Après avoir accusé Hanoï de «monter en épingle» son conflit territorial avec la Chine, mercredi, Pékin, a jeté de l'huile sur le feu en annonçant l'installation d'une seconde plateforme pétrolière dans la zone disputée. La nouvelle installation chinoise devait arriver, vendredi, en mer de Chine méridionale, en dépit des récentes tensions déclenchées par le montage d'une telle infrastructure à proximité d'îles que se disputent Pékin et Hanoï. [en savoir plus]

China sending four oil rigs to South China Sea amid regional tensions

20.06.2014 (GMA News) -  BEIJING - China is sending four oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Beijing its stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a giant drilling platform in waters claimed by Vietnam.

Coordinates posted on the website of China's Maritime Safety Administration showed the Nanhai number 2 and 5 rigs would be deployed roughly between southern China and the Pratas islands, which are occupied by Taiwan. The Nanhai 4 rig would be towed close to the Chinese coast.

The agency, which did not say who owns the rigs, said all three would be in place by Aug. 12. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Navíos chinos en aguas disputadas del mar de China oriental (Tokio)

20.06.2014 (Terra) - Dos barcos de guardacostas chinos penetraron este viernes en aguas territoriales de unos islotes deshabitados administrados por Japón y que China reclama, anunció Tokio.

Los dos navíos fueron avistados por los guardacostas japoneses hacia las 10H00 locales (01H00 GMT) en las aguas territoriales de las islas que Japón denomina Senkaku y China Diaoyu.

Esta nueva incursión --la última se remonta al 6 de junio-- se produce después de que a principios de mes el G7, reunido en Bruselas, mostró su preocupación por el recrudecimiento de las tensiones en esta parte del mundo, aunque no citó explícitamente a China. [seguir leyendo]

The informal meeting of the ASEAN Sea

20.06.2014 René L Pattiradjawane, Jakarta (The Jakarta Post) - Being a vassal state of China, it is not easy for Vietnam to maintain an equal relationship with its giant neighbor. The shadows of the northern Middle Kingdom will always undermine Hanoi’s political gesture in finding viable political and security solutions on the overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

At the same time, the Vietnamese government realizes that ASEAN will not guarantee any political or security answers to China’a assertiveness, which has also been projected toward the Philippines and Japan. [read more]

Michael Green: Concerns about China's rise boost support for U.S. rebalance to Asia

20.06.2014 By Yoichi Kato/ National Security Correspondent (The Asahi Shimbun) - A top Asia expert at an influential Washington-based think tank said an overwhelming number of “strategic elites” in the Asia-Pacific region support the U.S. rebalance policy because they are concerned about China's growing influence.

A survey of 402 nongovernmental policy experts in 10 countries and Taiwan, conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in March and April, found that an average of 79 percent of respondents supported the U.S. goal of rebalance to Asia.

“If it weren’t for China, that number would be much lower,” CSIS Vice President Michael Green told The Asahi Shimbun, which helped to conduct the survey, in a recent interview. [read more]

Chinese Media: In Vietnam, Yang Calls 'Prodigal Son' to Return Home

19.06.2014 By Shannon Tiezzi (The Diplomat) - Chinese media portrayed Yang Jiechi’s trip to Vietnam as a diplomatic and moral victory for China.

On Thursday, China said that it would move a second oil rig into the waters off Vietnam’s coast, where the two countries have been engaged in a protracted dispute since early May. China’s Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) posted a notice on its website stating that this new rig will be installed between June 18 and 20. Its final location will be at 17°14.1′ North latitude and 109°31′ East longitude  off the coast of Vietnam.

China’s HYSY 981 oil rig sparked a major bilateral dispute over the sovereignty of the South China Sea waters off Vietnam’s coast. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China unfazed by standoff with Vietnam

20.06.2014 (The Statesman) - Unfazed by a diplomatic standoff with Hanoi, China today said it was deploying another oil rig close to Vietnam, even as it expressed willingness to work with the Asean to promote a code of conduct in disputed waters of the South China Sea.

China's Maritime Safety Administration said a 600-metre-long rig was being towed southeast of its current position south of Hainan Island to a new location closer to Vietnam.

Asked about the reports on movement of the second oil rig at a media briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “As far as I have learnt the oil rig is in coastal waters of China's Hainan Island.” [read more]

Hanoï-Pékin l’impossible dialogue en mer de Chine

19.06.2014 Michel de Grandi (Les Echos) - Après les émeutes anti-chinoises de fin mai, la Chine et le Vietnam tentent de renouer le dialogue

Les couteaux sont rentrés. Pour la première rencontre depuis les émeutes de fin mai , la Chine et le Vietnam essaient de renouer un dialogue que l'installation d’une plate-forme pétrolière dans les eaux revendiquées par le Vietnam a subitement interrompu. Cette intrusion a fait six morts du côté vietnamien et déclenché les pires manifestations anti-chinoises depuis longtemps. [en savoir plus]

China Moves Second Oil Rig Into Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone

19.06.2014 By Ankit Panda (The Diplomat) - On Thursday, China said that it would move a second oil rig into the waters off Vietnam’s coast, where the two countries have been engaged in a protracted dispute since early May. China’s Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) posted a notice on its website stating that this new rig will be installed between June 18 and 20. Its final location will be at 17°14.1′ North latitude and 109°31′ East longitude  off the coast of Vietnam.

China’s HYSY 981 oil rig sparked a major bilateral dispute over the sovereignty of the South China Sea waters off Vietnam’s coast. While Vietnam claims that the waters belong to it as part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), China claims that it holds sovereignty over the territory based on its claim to the Paracel (Xisha) Islands. The Paracel Islands are also disputed between China and Vietnam. [read more]

Philippines, U.S. to hold naval drills near disputed shoal in South China Sea

19.06.2014 (Yahoo News UK) - MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine and American troops are set to hold naval exercises this month near a disputed shoal, which will almost certainly anger China with tension already high in the South China Sea.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, potentially rich in oil and gas and fisheries.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also claim parts of the waters, and China has viewed with suspicion what it sees as U.S. moves to "provoke" tension by supporting its regional allies, notably Vietnam and the Philippines. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China moving 2nd oil rig closer to Vietnam

19.06.2014 (CBSNews) - BEIJING -- China said Thursday it is moving a second oil rig closer to Vietnam's coast, showing its determination to press its territorial claims and continue searching for resources in disputed waters despite a tense confrontation with Vietnam over another oil rig to the south. The 1,970-foot-long rig is being towed southeast of its current position south of Hainan Island and will be in its new location closer to Vietnam by Friday, the Maritime Safety Administration said on its website. It asked vessels in the area to give it a wide berth.

Vietnam isn't expected to react strongly to the placement of the second rig because it lies far to the north of the politically sensitive waters surrounding the Paracel Islands, where ships from the two countries have been ramming each other for more than 40 days near the first oil rig.

A Vietnamese Foreign Ministry official who spoke on standard condition of anonymity said Hanoi believes that no country should take unilateral action in contested waters, but that China has explored the area previously without causing a crisis in relations. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Republic Of Vietnam Issues "Rebuttal" To China's Position Paper On Current South China Sea Standoff

19.06.2014 (Reuters) - WASHINGTON - PRNewswire-USNewswire -- As of today, June 19, 2014, the Republic of Vietnam Pro-temp Leadership Committee made public a document analyzing the claims made by the People's Republic of China and distributed at the UN on June 9, 2014, regarding "The Operation of the HYSY 981 Drilling Rig: Vietnam's Provocation and China's position."

This is a rebuttal, point by point, of the Chinese paper showing to which extent its contentions are ill-conceived and contrary to historical facts. Self-contradictions are also clearly evident in some of the Chinese major claims. [read more]

On the frontline in the South China Sea: A diary by South-East Asia correspondent Samantha Hawley

19.06.2014 (ABC News) - South-East Asia correspondent Samantha Hawley spent nearly a week travelling to a giant Chinese oil rig deployed between the Vietnamese coast and the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea.

Travelling onboard Vietnamese coastguard ships, Hawley came within eight nautical miles of the Chinese rig, operated by China Oilfield Services Limited, which is located about 30 kilometres south of the Paracel Islands.

With a first-hand view of tensions between the two countries playing out on the high seas, the journey was certainly no cruise. [read more]

Diplomatie nach der Wasserschlacht

19.06.2014 Marco Kauffmann Bossart, Rangun (NZZ) - In Hanoi haben China und Vietnam ihre unterschiedlichen Standpunkte im Streit um ressourcenreiche Seegebiete bekräftigt. Auf beiden Seiten herrscht tiefes Misstrauen.

In den vergangenen fünf Wochen schienen sich China und Vietnam vor allem auf hoher See zu begegnen. Hanoi bezichtigte die Volksrepublik, ein Fischerboot zum Entern gebracht und Schiffe der Küstenwache mit Wasserkanonen unter Beschuss genommen zu haben. Peking konterte, die Vietnamesen hätten mutwillig chinesische Boote gerammt. Auslöser der gefährlichen Zuspitzung bei den von mehreren Staaten beanspruchten Paracel-Inseln war die Placierung einer chinesischen Ölplattform. Vor diesem Hintergrund muss es als Erfolg gelten, dass beide Seiten jetzt wieder das Gespräch suchten und China mit Staatsrat Yang Jiechi seinen höchsten Aussenpolitiker nach Vietnam entsandte....

Trotz den bisweilen harschen Tönen aus Vietnam und der Bereitschaft, die im Land weitverbreitete antichinesische Stimmung zu schüren, ist das politische Establishment offenkundig in der Frage gespalten, wie mit China umzuspringen ist. Während einige Fraktionen im Politbüro eine Annäherung an die Vereinigten Staaten begrüssen und im Territorialstreit trotz Drohungen aus Peking ein internationales Schiedsgericht einschalten wollen, lehnen es konservative Kreise ab, die asiatische Grossmacht vor den Kopf zu stossen. [Weiterlesen]

Chine: les vétérans du Vietnam dans un nouvelle bataille, contre Pékin

19.06.2014 (directmatin.fr) - Marginalisés et incompris, les vétérans chinois de la guerre du Vietnam --celle, peu connue, lancée en 1979 par la Chine contre son voisin-- risquent la prison et les coups dans un combat imprévu, celui contre les autorités.

Teng Xingqiu est l'un de ces milliers de soldats chinois à la retraite qui indisposent les autorités communistes, en organisant des manifestations, de plus en plus nombreuses, contre leurs pensions impayées.

"Les policiers m'ont dit qu'ils me souhaitaient de crever derrière les barreaux", raconte Teng, condamné à trois ans de prison en 2009 pour son activisme. [en savoir plus] - [tiếng Việt]

Yang's Visit Underlines China-Vietnam Standoff

19.06.2014 By Shannon Tiezzi (The Diplomat) - Even while Vietnam and China continue to trade barbs over the placement of a Chinese oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi arrived in Hanoi Wednesday for a visit. Yang’s meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh as well as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung marked the highest-level exchanges between China and Vietnam since the crisis began in early May.

Minh pointed to Yang’s visit itself as a sign of progress. “Our meeting … demonstrates that the two parties and states of Vietnam and China have the desire for dialogue to settle the current complicated situation in the East Sea,” the Associated Press quoted Minh as saying.

According to Xinhua, Yang Jiechi assured his Vietnamese counterpart that China “attach[es] great importance to China-Vietnam relations from a strategic long-term perspective” and seeks “a healthy and stable comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.” However, he stood firm on China’s position that Vietnam is the one threatening the relationship. China, Yang said, will continue to “take all necessary measures” to protect both its sovereignty and the continued operation of the oil rig. [read more]

Nominado abierto a levantar embargo a Vietnam

17.06.2014 Associated Press Por Matthew Pennington (Metro) - WASHINGTON — El nominado por el president Barack Obama a embajador en Vietnam dijo el martes que era hora de que Washington estudie la posibilidad de levantar la prohibición a la venta y transferencia de armas su antiguo enemigo.

Ted Osius dijo en su audiencia de confirmación en el Senado que Estados Unidos ha dejado en claro al autoritario gobierno vietnamita que no levantará el embargo hasta que el país haga avances significativos en materia de derechos humanos.

Pero agregó que ha habido avances en tres o cuatro de las nueve áreas en que Washington ha pedido avances, como derechos laborales, el trato a personas con discapacidades, dar más espacio a la sociedad civil y a las iglesias a funcionar normalmente. [seguir leyendo] - [tiếng Việt]

Philippines seeks quick ruling on suit with China

18.06.2014 AP (Washington Post) - MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines wants an international tribunal to issue a decision as quickly as it can on a Manila complaint that questions the legality of China’s massive territorial claims in the South China Sea because the disputes continue to escalate.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said late Tuesday that the Philippines would ask its lawyers to petition the Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague, the Netherlands, to issue an earlier ruling after China said it would not get involved in the case, which should shorten the arbitration proceedings.

“I am hoping we could get something by next year ... because China is not participating and because the situation is getting worse every day in the South China Sea,” del Rosario told reporters. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

No Breakthrough in Vietnam, China Talks

18.06.2014 (ABC News) -  Talks between a top Chinese diplomat and Vietnamese officials on Wednesday produced no breakthrough in the impasse over an increasingly bitter confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, a Vietnamese official said.

State Councilor Yang Jiechi was the most senior Chinese diplomat to visit Vietnam since China's deployment of a giant oil rig off the Vietnamese coast last month increased tensions between the neighbors.

The official, familiar with the talks, said that no progress was made during the discussion between Yang and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, who is also foreign minister. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said that the two sides still insisted on their opposing positions. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China scolds Vietnam for "hyping up" South China Sea oil rig row

18.06.2014 By Ho Binh Minh and Ben Blanchard (Reuters) - China's top diplomat scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi on Wednesday for "hyping up" a row over a Chinese oil rig drilling in disputed waters in the South China Sea, in tough comments that suggest relations will remain rocky.

State Councilor Yang Jiechi also told his hosts that the rig's activities in waters also claimed by Vietnam were "completely legal", China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing in Beijing.

Yang, who outranks the country's foreign minister, made the remarks in a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. [read more]

Envoy nominee open to lifting arms ban to Vietnam

17.06.2014 By Matthew Pennington (Miami Herald) - WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's nominee to become the next U.S. ambassador to Vietnam said Tuesday it may be time for Washington to consider lifting a ban on the sale and transfer of lethal weapons to the former American enemy.

Ted Osius told his Senate confirmation hearing that the U.S. has made clear to the nation's authoritarian government that the ban can't be lifted without significant progress on human rights.

Er reagierte auf eine Frage republikanische Senator John McCain, der einen solchen Schritt unterstützt. [read more]  - [tiếng Việt]

Consejero de Estado chino viaja a Vietnam para limar tensiones bilaterales

17.06.2014 (EFE) - Pekín - El consejero de Estado chino Yang Jiechi, principal responsable de Asuntos Exteriores en el Ejecutivo, viajará mañana a Vietnam para reunirse con el canciller vietnamita, Pham Binh Minh, un encuentro que se produce en medio de fuertes tensiones bilaterales por la soberanía de las islas Paracel.

La visita de Yang, de sólo un día, servirá para que ambas partes discutan asuntos de interés regional e internacional, destacó en rueda de prensa la portavoz de Asuntos Exteriores china Hua Chunying tras confirmar el viaje. [seguir leyendo]

ASEAN must press China on CoC

17.06.2014 Quratul-Ain Bandial (The Brunei Times) - ASEAN must continue to press China for a code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, despite setbacks and stalled negotiations, said an international relations expert yesterday.

“That just goes to show the region needs a CoC.... hitting another boat should be off limits, and a CoC could prevent territorial disputes turning into open conflict,” said Dr David Arase, a professor at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies.

“If ASEAN maintains unity and is able to speak with one voice towards China, it will be able to influence China’s whole attitude on this issue and maybe even get it to agree on a CoC.” He noted that ASEAN has been most successful diplomatically when it has stuck together. [read more]

China fears spur Philippine naval upgrade

16.06.2014 (Channel NewsAsia) - ULUGAN BAY: As fears grow that China is on an aggressive South China Sea territorial grab, a sleepy Philippine village is being transformed into a major naval base that may host US warships.

Ulugan is on the west coast of the large western Philippine island of Palawan, only 160 kilometres (100 miles) from a small group of islands and islets within the Spratly archipelago known locally as the Kalayaan group.

The Spratlys are among the most prized assets in the decades-long but increasingly hostile struggle for control of parts of the South China Sea.

The sea has such importance because roughly half the world's shipping trade passes through it, while it is believed to contain enormous deposits of natural gas and has rich fishing grounds. [read more]

Philippines against South China Sea construction

16.06.2014 By Louise Watt (Taiwan News) - BEIJING (AP) -- China rejected a suggestion by the Philippines on Monday for a regionwide ban on construction in the South China Sea after Beijing began building a school on a rugged outpost it created to strengthen its claims to disputed waters.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said he will propose that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations call for such a moratorium. "I think we would use the international community to step up and to say that we need to manage the tensions in the South China Sea before it gets out of hand," del Rosario said.

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that the Philippines was making "irresponsible remarks." She said China was committed to resolving issues with countries on a bilateral basis, and that island disputes between China and the Philippines were not an issue for ASEAN. [read more]

Philippines calls for freeze on actions in South China Sea

16.06.2014 (Channel NewsAsia) - MANILA: The Philippines on Monday called on nations with overlapping claims in the South China Sea to halt all action that could provoke tensions in the area, amid fears of China's expansionism.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said he backed a US proposal for a fresh regional dialogue that could take place within the year where he hoped to put the moratorium plan formally on the table.

"Let's call for a moratorium in terms of activities that escalate tension," del Rosario told ANC Television, calling on the international community "to say that we need to manage the tensions in the South China Sea before it gets out of hand." [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China, Trying to Bolster Its Claims, Plants Islands in Disputed Waters

16.06.2014 By Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield (The New York Times) - BEIJING — The islands have all that one could ask of a tropical resort destination: white sand, turquoise waters and sea winds.

But they took shape only in the last several months, and they are already emerging as a major point of conflict in the increasingly bitter territorial disputes between China and other Asian nations.

China has been moving sand onto reefs and shoals to add several new islands to the Spratly archipelago, in what foreign officials say is a new effort to expand the Chinese footprint in the South China Sea. The officials say the islands will be able to support large buildings, human habitation and surveillance equipment, including radar. [read more]

China’s Information Warfare Campaign and the South China Sea: Bring It On!

16.06.2014 By Carl Thayer (The Diplomat) - As its dispute with Vietnam continues, China is trying to have it both ways at the United Nations.

On June 9 China unexpectedly opened a new front when Wang Min, Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, presented Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a formal position paper on the dispute with a request that he circulate it to all 193 UN members.

China’s action in internationalizing its dispute with Vietnam does not represent a change in its long-standing policy that maritime disputes can only be settled bilaterally through direct consultations and negotiation of the parties directly concerned. A day after China submitted its position paper, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that China rejected United Nations arbitration of its dispute with Vietnam.

Why then did China take its dispute with Vietnam to the United Nations? [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China’s ‘mobile territory,’ strategic weapon: Oil rig

16.06.2014 By Amando Doronila, Philippine Daily Inquirer (INQUIRER.net) - The Philippines last week fired off a new diplomatic protest against China after confirming Chinese land reclamation on McKennan (Hughes) Reef in the Spratly Islands, which is within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The protest followed disclosures by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in April that the new reclamation appeared to be similar to Chinese activities on Gavin (Gaven) Reefs and Calderon (Cuarteron) Reef, also in the Spratlys.

DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said continuing land reclamation on Philippine-claimed reefs was proof of China’s “intent to project its territory in the South China Sea” despite being a signatory to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. [read more]

Top Chinese diplomat to visit Vietnam this week as tension rises in the South China Sea

16.06.2014 By The Associated Press (canada.com) - HANOI, Vietnam - A top Chinese diplomat will visit Vietnam this week after China's deployment of a giant oil rig off Vietnam's coast in May increased tensions.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh will discuss the oil rig when they meet at an annual bilateral event Yang is attending, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh told reporters.

Yang's visit will be the highest-level meeting between the two governments since the rig was deployed on May 2. [read more]

South China Sea disputes: what is in it for Europe?

15.06.2014 by Bruno Hellendorff (European Geostrategy) - ... China claims 80% of the South China Sea, including the Paracels, wrestled from Vietnam in 1974, and the Spratleys, considering its sovereignty and related rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea ‘supported by abundant historical and legal evidence’

Vietnam and the Philippines, for their part, vocally contest the position of China, and defend their own, overlapping claims based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a convention to which all regional countries are parties. Both have tried on numerous occasions to internationalise the conflict, soliciting – with little success – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) solidarity and appealing to external powers such as the United States (US). Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to parts of the Spratleys, under their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), but have adopted a more discreet stance vis-à-vis China, quietly exploiting resources in the area while reinforcing their own military capabilities. Taiwan has a similar position to that of China; it is indeed the Chinese Nationalist government that was at the origin of the so-called ‘nine-dash line’, and Beijing’s position is based on the premise that Taiwan is part of China. It has however adopted a rather conciliatory tone throughout the last decades.

In addition to its hold on all of the Paracels, China controls eight islands of the Spratleys. Vietnam holds twenty-nine of them, the Philippines eight, Malaysia five, Brunei two and Taiwan just one – but the largest (Itu Aba). [read more]

China erige escuela en isla de aguas disputadas

15.06.2014 (Telemetro) -  China comenzó a construir una escuela en una isla remota en el Mar del Sur para los hijos del personal militar y otros, expandiendo el puesto que creó hace dos años allí para fortalecer sus reclamos de soberanía sobre las aguas e islas disputadas.

China estableció el asentamiento de Sansha —que Beijing designa "ciudad" y tiene una población de 1.443 personas — en la diminuta isla de Yongxing para administrar centenares de miles de kilómetros cuadrados de aguas en las que quiere fortalecer su control sobre islas potencialmente ricas en petróleo que son reclamadas también por otros países asiáticos. [seguir leyendo] - [tiếng Việt]

Tensions between Vietnam and China over islands

15.06.2014 By Ruairidh Duncan (kettlemag) - Only a few days ago Le Thi Tuyet Mai set herself on fire outside Ho Chi Minh City’s reunification palace. The burning woman stopped traffic in the city as the police frantically tried to douse the flames.

Before her Self-immolation the sixty-seven year old Buddhist woman surrounded herself with handmade banners denouncing Chinese actions in the South China sea, specifically the illegal oil exploration by Chinese vessels within what she regards to be Vietnamese territorial waters.

The billion dollar rig operated by the China National Offshore Oil Company is engaged in drilling off the Parcel islands. The islands have been administered by the People’s Republic of China since 1974 after they were captured from South Vietnam following a minor sea battle although both Vietnam and Taiwan claim the islands. [read more]

The Haiyang 981 Confrontation: The Danger Of Convoluting Everything Into Sovereignty Disputes

05.06.2014 By Huy Duong and Tuan Pham (Eurasia Review) - Inflating the South China Sea maritime disputes unreasonably beyond any possible EEZ that might be allocated to tiny disputed islands hampers regional security and co-operation. Much of the tensions could be resolved by applying UNCLOS’s dispute settlement procedure to matters relating to maritime delimitation and cooperation in disputed areas.

The problem for the South China Sea, and the source for the tensions we have been seeing, is that there is one country which is strident in its territorial claims to the point of refusing to acknowledge that there is a sovereignty dispute over the Paracels, which claims most of the South China Sea’s waters and continental shelf in a way that disregards both UNCLOS and previous negotiated or legal settlements in maritime delimitation, which does not hesitate to unilaterally enforce such claims, and which has declared that it does not accept UNCLOS’s dispute settlement procedure for several categories of disputes, including, crucially, those relating to the interpretation and application of UNCLOS’s Articles relating to maritime delimitation. That country is China. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China building school on remote island outpost to boost claim to disputed southern waters

15.06.2014 By The Associated Press (canada.com) - BEIJING, China - China is building a school on a remote island in the South China Sea to serve the children of military personnel and others, expanding the rugged outpost it created two years ago to strengthen claims to disputed waters and islands.

China established the settlement of Sansha — which Beijing designates a "city" and has a permanent population of 1,443 — on tiny Yongxing island to administer hundreds of thousands of square miles (kilometres) of water where China wants to strengthen its control over potentially oil-rich islands that are also claimed by other Asian nations. [read more] -[tiếng Việt]

China claiming another reef; PH files new protest

14.06.2014 By Tarra Quismundo, Philippine Daily Inquirer (inquirer.net) - The Philippines has filed a new diplomatic protest against China over its land reclamation on McKennan (Hughes) Reef in the Spratly group of islands, which is indisputably within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson, said the foreign office lodged the protest sometime last week. But he could not say how China responded to the latest note verbale. The Chinese Embassy in Manila had immediately rejected all previous Philippine protests in relation to the South China Sea dispute.

“We filed the protest last week. The reclamation there was confirmed first,” said Jose. [read more]

Keep the lid on Pandora’s box or Asia will pay dearly

09.06.2014 By Gideon Rachman (The Financial Times) - The rise in tensions in the region is now so palpable that senior political figures are sounding the alarm. A few days ago, at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, I heard Yun Byung-se, South Korea’s foreign minister, warn that the increase in tensions in Asia means that “it looks like Pandora’s box is being opened”.

To make his case, Mr Yun listed an alarming spate of incidents during the past month: a near collision between Chinese fighter jets and a Japanese surveillance aircraft, “the first such incident in recent history”; a physical confrontation between Vietnamese and Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, the first since the two nations went to war in 1979; North Korea firing shells at a South Korean ship and threatening a fourth nuclear test, “in a way nobody has ever imagined”. ...

The obvious difficulty with this is that there is absolutely no sign that China is prepared to submit its notorious “nine-dash line” – defining its expansive claims in the South China Sea – to any form of international ruling. The Philippines is trying to test China’s claims under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but Beijing has refused to accept international arbitration. A generation of Chinese children have been raised on the idea that the waters within the line are China’s, by historical right. The Beijing government, which proclaims the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” as its central mission, is highly unlikely to risk having to abandon its claim. [read more]

Naciones de Asia se muestran los dientes en el mar de China Meridional

13.06.2014 Por Richard Heydarian (IPS) - SINGAPUR - La decisión de China de instalar la moderna plataforma petrolífera HYSY981 a la zona económica exclusiva de 200 millas náuticas pertenecientes a Vietnam, intensificó las disputas territoriales en el mar de China Meridional e hizo temer por una escalada militar en uno de los cursos de agua más importantes del mundo.

No pasó mucho tiempo antes de que las fuerzas marítimas de Vietnam y China se vieran envueltas en un peligro impasse naval, que derivó en leves enfrentamientos en alta mar.

Filipinas y Vietnam sostienen que Beijing violó de forma flagrante la Declaración de 2002 sobre la Conducta de las Partes en el mar de China Meridional, que de forma explícita desalienta a los estados demandantes a alterar de forma unilateral el estatus desarrollando, entre otras cosas, obras de construcción en las áreas en disputa. [seguir leyendo]

Peking taktiert an mehreren Fronten

In den Territorialkonflikten im Südchinesischen Meer versucht Peking, vollendete Tatsachen zu schaffen

13.06.2014 Johnny Erling aus Peking (derStandard.at) - Peking verschafft sich im territorial umstrittenen Südchinesischen Meer immer mehr Vorteile: mit dem Bau künstlicher Inseln als neuen Stützpunkten, mit juristischen Finessen am Internationalen Gerichtshof (ICJ) in Den Haag und bei den Vereinten Nationen - oder einfach nur mit dem Recht des Stärkeren. Das konzertierte Vorrücken auf mehreren Feldern wurde zuletzt besonders deutlich, als China sich mit Vietnam und den Philippinen gleichzeitig um seine territorialen Ansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer stritt - während der Konflikt mit Japan um Inselgruppen im Ostchinesischen Meer weitergärte.

Während China Manila juristisch abblockt und Hanoi in die Defensive drängt, bringen chinesische Transportschiffe Zement und Stahl ins Südchinesische Meer: Peking lässt Inseln, Riffe und Atolle ausbauen. Chinesische Marineexperten bestätigten der South China Morning Post die Absicht, künstliche Inseln zu bauen. [Weiterlesen]

Asian Nations Bare Teeth Over South China Sea

11.06.2014 Analysis by Richard Heydarian (IPS) - SINGAPORE - China’s early-May decision to dispatch the state-of-the-art oil rig, HYSY981, into Vietnam’s 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), has intensified ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, raising fears of uncontrolled military escalation in one of the world’s most important waterways. It wasn’t long before Vietnamese and Chinese maritime forces were locked in a dangerous naval standoff, which led to low-intensity clashes in the high seas.

Shortly after, the Philippines also released photos suggesting Chinese construction activities on the Johnson South Reef, a disputed feature that falls within the Philippines EEZ in the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea.

Later, China confirmed that it was indeed engaged in reclamation activities on the disputed reef, but it tried to justify it by claiming it exercised “indisputable and inherent” sovereignty over the said feature based on Beijing’s notorious “nine-dash-line” doctrine, which covers almost the entirety of the South China Sea. [read more]

Is Japan Planning to Create an Anti-China "Asian NATO"?

08.06.2014 Rich Smith (The Motley Fool) - China has an aircraft carrier -- and it's making the neighbors nervous.

Across Southeast Asia today, plans are afoot from Taiwan to South Korea, and from Australia to the Philippines to Japan, to boost military spending to counterbalance an increasingly bellicose Chinese navy. Now, it seems that one of these countries, Japan, is ready to step to the fore and lead an alliance.

How did it come to this, and what does it all mean to investors? [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

High-seas standoff continues between China, Vietnam

13.06.2014 Manabu Ito, Nikkei staff writer (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- Sino-Vietnamese tensions remain elevated a month and a half since China positioned an oil rig in contested waters in the South China Sea, and with more than 100 ships from both sides plying the area as of Thursday, no end of the discord is in sight.

China has two if not three cordons of ships deployed in the area around the rig, according to Vietnam's Coast Guard and fisheries surveillance force. When patrol boats or other Vietnamese vessels come close to the site to demand the rig's removal, they are chased off by multiple Chinese ships.

Hanoi has spoken with Beijing more than 30 times, but no agreement has been reached. Since Vietnam wants to avoid military conflict, its options are limited to pleading its case to the United Nations and foreign governments. [read more]

Vietnam, Japan stand up to China

13.06.2014 (INQUIRER.net) - UNITED NATIONS — Vietnam and Japan are standing up to China in their maritime disputes, with Hanoi going to the United Nations for world help in expelling a Chinese oil rig from its waters and Tokyo summoning Beijing’s ambassador for a stinging rebuke over “dangerous” flights by Chinese jet fighters in Japanese airspace.

China has attempted to picture Vietnam in the United Nations as the offender in the East Sea, accusing Hanoi on Monday of sending ships to ram Chinese vessels protecting a deepwater oil drilling rig that it moved to Vietnamese waters on May 1.

In January last year, the Philippines took its own territorial dispute with China to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea after Beijing seized Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), a resource-rich fishing ground in the West Philippine Sea, South China Sea waters within Manila’s 370-km exclusive economic zone. [read more]

New reality for Vietnam-China relations

12.06.2014 Written by Huong Le Thu (Asia Sentinel) - So much for the ‘peaceful rise’

The deployment of China’s HD 981 oil drilling rig is undoubtedly the most serious incident in Sino- Vietnamese relations since the normalization of ties in 1991. 

What was considered a  positive relationship based on 16 “golden words” in Chinese translated into long-term, stable, future-oriented, comprehensive cooperation relations and four “goods” – good  neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners – is being seriously challenged.

Until May and the arrival of the drillship, Vietnam boasted of its diplomatic accomplishments.  Successful multilateral diplomacy had resulted in a strong reputation as an active member of regional and trans-regional forums. The expanded network of bilateral ties, including partnership systems (comprehensive, strategic and strategic cooperative) with 15 countries around the world gave Hanoi the false assurance of international support. [read more]

Taiwan-Vietnam mediation commission set to meet twice a month

13.06.2014 By James Lee (Taiwan News) - Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Taiwan and Vietnam are scheduled to hold regular joint mediation sessions twice a month to tackle the issue of compensation for damages suffered by Taiwanese businesses during last month's anti-Chinese riots, a Taiwanese economics official said Friday. "In the initial stage, we'd like to hold such meetings more frequently to help Taiwanese businesses convey their needs," said Lien Yu-ping, director general of the Department of Investment Services under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The first mediation commission meeting took place Wednesday, and "some of our demands have been met," she told CNA during a break at a press conference in Taipei. Deputy Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin will serve as the leader of Taiwan's cross-ministry delegation to meet his counterpart, Dang Huy Dong, Vietnam's vice minister of Planning and Investment. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China: Kein Interesse an internationaler Schlichtung

12.06.2014 (FreieWelt.net) - Im Streit um Hoheitsrechte im Südchinesischen Meer will China nicht einlenken. Auch die Übergabe einer Dokumentation an den UN-Generalsekretär ändert daran nichts – im Gegenteil.   

Die chinesische Regierung hat am Montag beim UN-Generalsekretär eine Dokumentation überreicht, die die Besitzansprüche der Volksrepublik auf das Südchinesische Meer belegen sollen. Mit der Übergabe der Dokumentation ist ausdrücklich keine Anerlennung der internationalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeits verbunden.

Die Volksrepublik China liegt mit Vitenam, den Philippinen und Japan in einem ständigen Streit um die Seegrenzen im Südchinesischen Meer, der durch immer neue Provokationen der Pekinger Regierung angeheizt wird. Während die Philippinen und Vietnam die strittigen Fragen vom Internationalen Gerichtshof in Den Haag klären lassen will, schafft Peking Fakten: Jetzt werden systematisch künstliche Inseln in der umstrittenen Zone errichtet, die zu chinesischem Staatsgebiet erklärt werden. [Weiterlesen]

Does China Care About its International Image?

12.06.2014 By Dingding Chen (The Diplomat) - China’s global image faces challenges — but if asked to choose between its national interests and preserving its national image, China would choose the former.

A recent poll conducted by the BBC World Service shows that China’s international image is not that great around the world.

A natural question that one might ask is “does China care about its international image?” Due to China’s recent assertive actions (here and here) in East China Sea and South China Sea, it might seem like China is not worried about its image among its Asian neighbors. But it is inconsistent with China’s efforts in recent years to enhance its soft power and build a positive national image around the world. Thus, the puzzle is this: if China does care about its international image, why would China behave in a way that hurts its own national image? This is a legitimate question given some evidence showing that many in Asia now see China as a big bully. [read more]

China und Japan drohen sich mit Kampfjets

12.06.2014 (NZZ) - (dpa/afp) China und Japan haben sich mit Kampfjet-Manövern einen riskanten Schlagabtausch im Territorialstreit im Ostchinesischen Meer geliefert. Peking und Tokio liessen Flugzeuge in einem von beiden Ländern beanspruchten Gebiet in nur 30 Metern Entfernung aneinander vorbeifliegen, wie die Verteidigungsministerien beider Länder bestätigten.

Japan bestellte daraufhin am Donnerstag den chinesischen Botschafter Cheng Yonghua ein. Chinas Verteidigungsministerium machte hingegen Japan für die gefährliche Aktion vom Vortag verantwortlich.

Chinas Botschafter in Tokio erhob nach dem Treffen schwere Anschuldigungen gegen Japan. Die Notsituation über dem Ostchinesischen Meer sei von Tokio provoziert worden, zitierte ihn die amtliche chinesische Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua. Japan benutze die Situation, um China als Gefahr darzustellen. [Weiterlesen]

Philippine group protests Chinese reclamation

12.06.2014 (Taiwan News) - MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- About 200 members and supporters of the Akbayan Party protested peacefully Thursday at the Chinese Consulate in Manila on the 116th anniversary of Philippine independence from Spanish colonialism to "assert sovereignty" over the disputed area.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, including the potentially resource-rich Spratly Islands chain, where it has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Disputes among China, Vietnam and the Philippines have intensified this year. [read more]

Vietnam spars with China at UN in maritime spat

12.06.2014 (The Star) - UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 11, 2014 (AFP) - Vietnam has hit back against China at UN headquarters in New York, ordering Beijing to withdraw an oil rig and stop "interfering" with maritime safety in an ongoing territorial row.

The Vietnamese mission asked its position paper to be circulated to the General Assembly after China sought support at the United Nations on Monday.

The Vietnamese government called on China to "promptly commence government-level negotiations" on sovereignty over the contested waters. [read more]

China aims to set record straight in row with Vietnam

12.06.2014 (The Star) - Beijing: Beijing’s efforts to garner support at the United Nations in its territorial row with Hanoi reflect its maturing diplomacy as well as its determination to clarify facts and defend interests, observers said.

“We have strong proof of sovereignty over the region and have done a lot benefiting countries in the region. However, we seldom talk about that on international sites, as some countries do, so few are aware of that,” he said. “It’s not only about the row with Vietnam, but also about defending China’s national image.”

He added that Beijing’s efforts to take the row to the UN are a signal of “its diplomacy getting mature”. [read more]

Japan protests China's near-miss flybys over East China Sea

12.06.2014 Martin Fackler (The Sydney Morning Herald) - Tokyo: Japan protested to Beijing on Wednesday after Chinese fighter jets flew within 30 metres of Japanese military planes in airspace claimed by both nations. Similar flybys in the same area took place several weeks ago.

In two separate episodes on Wednesday, Chinese Su-27 fighters flew dangerously close to two Japanese propeller-driven reconnaissance airplanes in skies over the East China Sea, Japan's defence ministry said.

The flybys are the latest escalation in an increasingly tense test of wills between China and Japan for dominance of the East China Sea, which includes a group of uninhabited islets that both nations claim. Japan took control of the island group when it was a rising imperial power in the late 19th century, but now a newly resurgent China wants to regain what it sees as stolen territory. [read more]

Chinese fighters buzz Japan planes over East China Sea, Tokyo says

12.06.2014 (dalje.com) - Chinese fighter jets buzzed Japanese military planes in airspace that both countries claim as their identification zone, prompting Tokyo to summon the Chinese ambassador Thursday in protest.

A Chinese SU-27 fighter flew to within 30 metres of a Japanese YS-11 EB plane, and an OP-3C reconnaissance plane was also approached by another fighter in the same airspace, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters late Wednesday.

Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki met with the Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua to lodge a protest over the incident, according to Japanese government officials. [read more]

Australia backs Japan's collective defence shift

12.06.2014 (Channel NewsAsia) - TOKYO: Australia on Thursday backed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's drive to expand the use of Japan's military, hailing it as a "more normal defence posture", a day after Tokyo and Canberra stepped up ties.

Shinzo Abe is pushing to reinterpret Japan's strict pacifist constitution to allow its well-equipped armed forces to fight in defence of an ally, something currently barred.

"Australia can see great benefits to our country and to our region, should Japan continue to play a greater constructive role in global and regional peace and security," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in Tokyo. [read more]

Sea Dispute Spotlights Plight of Vietnamese Fishermen

11.06.2014 Trung Nguyen (VOA) - Vietnamese captain Dang Van Nhan has been left idle in his hometown of Da Nang following the sinking of his ship in the South China Sea last month.

Shortly after the ramming incident with a Chinese ship, contributions began pouring in from all over the country. But they have not been enough to help him build a new $200,000 fishing boat that would get him back to work.

Vietnamese fishing crews have been urged by authorities to maintain their presence at sea to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. But critics say that might put them at risk while the confrontation between the two neighbors shows no sign of abating.

“Fishermen are currently facing a lot of difficulties at sea, so we have to help them do their jobs," he said. "It does not mean we support them in venturing out to face off against Chinese forces.” [read more]

Vietnam Faces Limited Options in China Sea Dispute

11.06.2014 Marianne Brown (VOA) - HANOI — Vietnam has curbed the violent anti-China protests that swept the country after a Chinese oil rig began drilling in contested waters. But authorities have not dropped their opposition to the Chinese operation, sending boats to harass the drilling, considering waging a legal case in international courts to resolve the dispute, and courting regional allies like the Philippines.

China tightened the screws on Vietnam this week by sending a “position paper” to the United Nations on the operations of its $1 billion-oil rig in a part of the South China Sea that Vietnam also claims.

China has always resisted third party intervention in disputes between rival claimants over territory in the South China Sea, but this shift could put Vietnam in a difficult position, says Professor Carl Thayer from the Australian Defense Force Academy. [read more]

Vietnam launches UN bid over dipsute with China

11.06.2014 (Press TV) - Vietnam has filed a document with the United Nations (UN), asking China to withdraw an oil rig from disputed waters in the South China Sea.

The controversial oil rig is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) away from Paracel Islands and 278 kilometers (173 miles) off Vietnam’s coast.

Vietnam on Wednesday demanded that china “escort vessels from Vietnam’s maritime zones and stop all activities that are interfering with maritime safety and security, and affecting regional peace and security,” read the document. The Vietnamese government also urged China to “commence government-level negotiations” over the contested waters. [read more]

China uses Vietnamese textbook to back claim in South China Sea dispute

11.06.2014 By Hilary Whiteman Hong Kong (CNN) -- China is using photocopied pages from a geography textbook for Vietnamese ninth-graders published 40 years ago to help win international support for its claim to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The pages were among documents sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, with a request that they be circulated among the General Assembly's 193 members.

It's the latest attempt by the Chinese to prove its ownership of an area that Vietnam also claims as its own, as ships from both countries allegedly jostle each other miles from land in the South China Sea. What's in the Chinese papers? [read more]

Paracel Islands a flashpoint in regional tensions between China and Vietnam

11.06.2014 Clifford Coonan in Beijing (The Irish Times) - A largely unpopulated archipelago administered by China but claimed by Vietnam, the Paracel Islands have become the flashpoint in an increasingly aggressive territorial dispute between the two neighbours, ideological allies as fellow communists but with stark divisions.

China claims 90 per cent of the 3.5 million sq km South China Sea. The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all claim some of the Spratlys, while China, Taiwan and Vietnam claim the whole chain.

Xu Liping, an expert on China’s relations in Southeast Asia at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing may be trying to put economic pressure on Vietnam’s government. [read more]

ASEAN zwischen Peking und Washington

11.06.2014 Rodion Ebbighausen (Deutsche Welle) - Südostasien ist eine wirtschaftliche und strategische Schlüsselregion für die Volksrepublik China und die USA. Wachsende Spannungen drohen die Staatengemeinschaft zu zerreißen. Die in den internationalen Medien oftmals wenig beachtete Region zählt etwa 600 Millionen Einwohner und gehört zu den dynamischsten Wirtschaftsräumen der Welt.

Anfang Mai verlegte China eine Ölbohrplattform vor eine Inselgruppe im Südchinesischen Meer, auf die sowohl China als auch Vietnam Ansprüche erheben. Dies stieß im Westen auf massive Kritik und führte in Vietnam zu gewaltsamen anti-chinesischen Protesten. Andreas Seifert von der Informationsstelle Militarisierung in Tübingen vermutet, dass China mit solchen Aktionen Fakten schaffen will: "Vielleicht nutzt China die Zeitspanne, die noch bleibt, bis die Aufrüstung in Südostasien greift, und bevor sich die USA allzu sehr in der Region einsetzen, um seine Claims abzusichern." Andere Experten deuten die Positionierung der Ölbohrinsel darüber hinaus als Signal an die USA und die ASEAN. China will nicht nur zeigen, wozu es in der Lage ist, sondern auch, dass die USA nichts dagegen unternehmen kann. [Weiterlesen]

China errichtet künstliche Inseln vor den Philippinen

11.06.2014, von Christian Geinitz, Peking (FAZ) - Während der Konflikt mit Vietnam um eine chinesische Bohrinsel nicht zur Ruhe kommt, schafft Peking gegenüber Manila offenbar Fakten. Die Landgewinnung nahe der Spratly-Inseln erinnert an die Inseln vor Dubai. China errichtet angeblich künstliche Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer, weil die nationale Zugehörigkeit der vorhandenen Eilande umstritten ist. Schiffe aus der Volksrepublik schafften unablässig Sand, Zement, Holz und Stahl herbei, um in der Nähe der Spratly-Inseln Land zu gewinnen, berichtet die Finanzagentur Bloomberg mit Verweis auf philippinische Quellen. Nicht weniger als sechs Staaten beanspruchen das Archipel, darunter die Regierungen in Peking und Manila. Die mehr als 100 Inseln, Atolle und Riffe liegen in einer der wichtigsten Schifffahrtsrouten der Welt, außerdem werden hier Erdöl- und Erdgasvorkommen vermutet.

„Sie erschaffen auf künstliche Weise Inseln, die es seit Beginn der Welt nicht gegeben hat, so wie die in Dubai“, sagte Eugenio Bito-onon gegenüber der Agentur. Er ist der Bürgermeister eines dünnbesiedelten Abschnitts der Spratlys namens Kalayaan (Freiheit), den die Philippinen besetzt halten. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

China’s Vietnam veterans engage in new battle

11.06.2014 Tom Hancock, AFP (The Brunei Times) - YIYANG, China - MARGINALISED and misunderstood, Chinese Vietnam veterans – who fought in a little-celebrated war against their southern neighbours – risk beatings and prison in a new battle with government officials.

Teng Xingqiu is one of thousands of retired Chinese soldiers staging an increasing number of protests over unpaid benefits and unnerving Communist authorities.

“The police told me they hoped I’d die in jail,” said Teng, whose activism resulted in him being sentenced to three years in prison in 2009.

A thin man whose body bears scars he says result from police violence, the 56-year-old scanned the streets for surveillance cameras before choosing a run-down restaurant as a safe meeting spot. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Japan seeks to affirm maritime ties with Vietnam

11.06.2014 (NHK) - Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says he hopes Japan and Vietnam can reaffirm cooperation on maritime issues when he visits the country next month.

Japanese government officials are arranging a meeting between Kishida and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Kishida says he will convey Japan's support for Vietnam's policy of resolving its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea through dialogue. [read more]

UN 'will mediate in China-Vietnam row'

11.06.2014 (BBC) - The United Nations says it is willing to mediate in the territorial row between China and Vietnam.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric called for both sides to resolve the dispute peacefully and legally.

In the past week, Vietnam and China have both sent dossiers outlining their claims in the South China Sea to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

The latest phase of the row focuses on China's decision to move an oil rig into the disputed Paracel Islands. [read more]

Vietnam Says China Sent Six Warships to Rig in Disputed Seas

11.06.2014 (Bloomberg) - Vietnam said China again shifted an oil rig it has placed in disputed waters, with six warships guarding the structure as the two communist countries continue their South China Sea stand-off.

The rig was moved for a third time and remains off Vietnam’s coast in an area claimed by both countries, the official Vietnam News reported, citing information from the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department. There are now six Chinese warships, 38 coast guard vessels, 13 cargo ships and 19 tugboats protecting it, the paper said. [read more]

Vietnam urges China to withdraw oil rig from South China Sea

11.06.2014 (South China Morning Post) - Beijing's refusal to discuss the dispute is provocative and raises 'serious concerns', says Vietnam’s UN ambassador.

Vietnam’s UN ambassador urged China on Tuesday to withdraw its oil rig and more than 100 ships from the South China Sea to create “an environment” for negotiations on the disputed waters.

But Ambassador Le Hoai Trung said that Beijing refuses to engage in dialogue and insists there is no dispute, claiming the area around the rig belongs to China.

China has occupied the Paracel Islands, which it calls the Xisha Islands, since 1974, but they are also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. Vietnam calls them the Hoang Sa Islands. [read more]

Web of containment tightens on China

11.06.2014 By Richard Javad Heydarian (Asia Times) - MANILA - The Philippines and Vietnam, confronted with an increasingly assertive China, are putting aside past rivalries and inching closer to becoming full-fledged brothers in arms in the South China Sea.

In a symbolic gesture of the budding alliance, Philippine and Vietnamese troops on Sunday played sports and drank beer together on the disputed Southwest Cay island (claimed by Hanoi, Manila and Beijing). More significantly, Hanoi seems increasingly likely to follow Manila's lead in internationalizing its disputes with China through legal appeal to an international arbitration tribunal, a move China has strongly criticized and resisted. [read more]

Malaysia Tries Appeasement With China

09.06.2014 Written by Philip Bowring (Asia Sentinel) - It was disastrous for Vietnam and it won’t work any better for KL

China is winning the battle over ownership of the South China Sea. Blatant aggression is succeeding here as surely as it did for Putin in Crimea – and with far less historical, ethnic or geographical justification.

One obvious illustration is the impunity with which China could sink a Vietnamese fishing boat as it proceeded with seizing an islet in the waters off Vietnam’s central coast and well within what to any neutral observer is clearly Vietnam’s 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

But a less-noticed illustration was the visit of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to China, organized to mark the 40th anniversary of Malaysia’s diplomatic recognition of the PRC – when Najib’s father Tun Razak was prime minister. [read more]

Chine-Vietnam: escarmouches répétées en mer de Chine méridionale

09.06.2014 (RFI) - Le conflit maritime est toujours très vif entre la Chine et le Vietnam. Dans un argumentaire publié dimanche 8 juin 2014, dans leur journal officiel, les autorités chinoises défendent le droit d’exploiter la plate-forme de forage pétrolière aux abords des îles Paracels, en mer de Chine : des eaux pourtant revendiquées par Hanoï.

Selon les autorités chinoises, plus de soixante bateaux vietnamiens auraient tenté de briser le cordon autour de la plate-forme pétrolière, percutant des navires chinois à plus de 1 400 reprises. De son côté, le Vietnam publie une vidéo où l’on voit un navire chinois poursuivre, heurter et couler un bateau de pêche vietnamien. [en savoir plus]

China bringt Inselstreit mit Vietnam vor die UN

10.06.2014 (Forum Vietnam 21) - Der Konflikt zwischen Vietnam und China um eine Ölplattform in umstrittenen Gewässern beschäftigt jetzt die Vereinten Nationen. China bringt seinen Inselstreit mit Vietnam vor die Vereinten Nationen. Die UN-Generalversammlung soll sich mit dem Konflik um eine Bohrinsel in der Nähe des Paracel-Archipels im Südchinesischen Meer befassen. Medien zufolge schickte der chinesische UN-Botschafter Wang Min ein Positionspapier über die Bohroperation im Südchinesischen Meer an UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki Moon und bat ihn darum, dieses an die Mitglieder der Generalversammlung weiterzureichen.

Am Sonntag veröffentlichte Chinas Außenministerium eine Erklärung mit dem Titel "Betrieb der Bohrinsel HYSY 981: Vietnams Provokation und Chinas Position", die auch dem UN-Generalsekretär vorgelegt wurde, darin wird Vietnam vorgeworfen, die Bohroperation illegal zu stören und die Souveränität Chinas zu verletzten.

Auf den ersten Blick scheint die Entscheidung Chinas eher rätselhaft, den Streit vor der UN zu bringen. China hat wiederholt und konsequent andere Streitparteien sowie Drittländer wie die Vereinigten Staaten kritisiert, dass sie versuchen Chinas Ansprüche zu internationalisieren.

Auf der anderen Seite haben sich die Philippinen an ein internationales Schiedsgericht zur Klärung der chinesischen Seegebietsansprüche gewandt. Manilas Appell an China, die Gebietsstreitigkeit ebenfalls vom Schiedgericht in Den Haag klären zu lassen, hat Peking stets abgelehnt.

Ein Richter am Ständigen Schiedgerichtshof sagte letzte Woche, China habe sechs Monaten Zeit zur Manilas Klage zu reagieren. Daraufhin bekräftigte das chinesische Außenministerium Chinas Weigerung zur Teilnahme am Schiedsverfahren.

Stattdessen hat sich China dafür ausgesprochen, territoriale Streitigkeiten im Südchinesischen Meer durch bilaterale Verhandlungen zu lösen, wo Pekings Einflüsse auf seine kleineren Nachbarn am größten sind.

Der Paracel-Archipel, von Vietnam Hoang Sa genannt, wurde von der damaligen Republik (Süd-) Vietnam verwaltet. Nach einer Seeschlacht 1974 besetzt China die Inseln, ganz in der Nähe des Ortes, an dem nun die Ölplattform HaiYang 981 liegt. 74 südvietnamesische Soldaten kamen dabei ums Leben.

US recommends removal of Vietnam ships, China oil rig in South China Sea

10.06.2014 Written by Jeffrey Tan (The Edge) - KUALA LUMPUR - The US government has recommended the withdrawal of Vietnamese vessels and removal of Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea. The presence of the vessels and oil rig has escalated tension between Vietnam and China over territorial claims in the region.

Daniel R. Russel, who is the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, called for both Vietnam and China to exercise restraint to avoid consequential "risks of other dangerous incidents".

“We call for all claimant parties to exercise restraint and prudence in the South China Sea.<br><br>“The claimants should pursue peaceful diplomatic resolutions to disputes. Both China and Vietnam need to deescalate, ” Russel said via a telephone conference with the media today. [read more]

China ‘Internationalizes’ South China Sea Dispute

10.06.2014 By Zachary Keck (The Diplomat) - China effectively internationalized its dispute with Vietnam over an oil rig in the South China Sea on Monday by submitting its claim against Hanoi to the UN Secretary General.

On Sunday China’s Foreign Ministry released a statement entitled, The Operation of the HYSY 981 Drilling Rig: Vietnam’s Provocation and China’s Position, which criticized Vietnam’s alleged provocations over the oil rig and provided the “most comprehensive outline to date of China’s claims to the Paracel Islands.” According to the Associated Press, on Monday China’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Wang Min, sent the paper to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and asked him to circulate it among all members of the UN General Assembly. China has repeatedly and consistently criticized other claimants in its various maritime disputes, as well as third parties like the United States, for what China claims are attempts to “internationalize” the issue. Actions that won criticism from China included merely raising the issue at regional forums like the Shangri-La Dialogue or summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In addition, Beijing has refused to respond to the case the Philippines has filed with the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration over Manila’s own territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. Instead, China has [read more]

China says it wants to counter Vietnam’s ‘slander’ on S.China Sea

10.06.2014 By Ben Blanchard (Reuters) - BEIJING - China said on Tuesday that it wanted to counter Vietnam's "slander" to the world about what was happening in disputed areas of the South China Sea, after Beijing asked the United Nations to circulate documents outlining its position.

A senior US diplomat called on China to provide evidence to back up its claim to 90 percent of the sea, believed to be rich in energy and minerals.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Russel, urged China to seize the "significant opportunity" of a call from an international court last week for evidence to back up its claims.

A judges' panel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said last week that it was giving China six months to respond to a case filed by the Philippines in March. China's Foreign Ministry last week restated its refusal to participate.

China rejects any international solution to the territorial disputes and calls for individual talks with claimant countries. [read more]

In About-Face, U.S. Supports Vietnam in Oil Dispute With China

10.06.2014 (TheStreet) - TAIPEI - The U.S. fought Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s and has long had a frigid relationship with its government, but now the U.S. is all but explicitly backing the Communist government as they both try to check the expansion of China.

The unspoken alliance against Beijing's expansion in the 3.5 million square-kilometer (1.4 million square mile) South China Sea marks a U.S. policy shift favoring the Southeast Asian country, where the U.S. lost more than 58,000 people in the war before full pullout by 1973.

Although it seems antithetical to longstanding American policy, sustained closer relations with Hanoi would protect the interests of American companies such as South China Sea gas driller Exxon-Mobil (XOM_) as well as those with strong onshore business in Vietnam, like Agilent Technologies (A_) and Intel (INTC_).

The U.S. may see Vietnam as part of a broader set of nations it can use to contain China's expansion, part of its three-year-old pivot to Asia that's supposed to allow U.S. engagement with Beijing without letting it rival Washington as a world superpower. [read more]

China, Vietnam Take Sea Dispute to UN Chief

10.06.2014 William Gallo (VOA) - WASHINGTON — China and Vietnam, which are involved in a tense standoff in the South China Sea, are pleading their case to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Beijing on Monday sent a paper to the U.N. chief, accusing Vietnam of "illegally and forcefully" disrupting Chinese oil drilling in waters claimed by both nations.

Vietnam later said it sent its own letter to Ban, demanding Beijing immediately withdraw the oil rig and all other ships, which it said violate Hanoi's sovereignty.

Hanoi also called on China to "create conditions" for talks on measures "to stabilize the situation and control the maritime issues between the two countries." [read more]

Palace rebuffs China over 'clumsy farce' remarks

10.06.2014 By RG Cruz (ABS-CBN) - MANILA - Malacanang on Tuesday rebuffed China for its snide remarks about the recent sports matches between Philippine and Vietnamese troops on the Vietnamese-held island of Southwest Cay.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said: "We wish to gladly inform China that we just celebrated yesterday the 13th Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day and perhaps, instead of condemning the friendly games between the Philippines and Vietnam, China should focus on engaging the Philippines in friendly initiatives." [read more]

China's State Enterprises Told to Stop Investing in Vietnam

09.06.2014 By Dexter Roberts (Bloomberg Businessweek) - It’s one more sign of how far China has to go before it starts treating its state enterprises more like normal commercial businesses, as its leaders pledged last November. Government-owned companies have been told to freeze temporarily any plans for new business in Vietnam, reports the South China Morning Poston June 9.

The government has temporarily stopped Chinese state-owned companies from bidding for fresh contracts in Vietnam,” the Hong Kong-based paper reported, citing several unnamed sources. “This is a sign that China is playing the economic card. How effective will it be? We will have to wait and see,” said Xu Liping, an expert on Southeast Asian relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Schiffe gerammt: China wirft Vietnam Provokation auf hoher See vor

09.06.2014 (Spiegel-Online) - Peking - In Ostasien spitzt sich ein gefährlicher Territorialstreit zu: Peking wirft Vietnam vor, chinesische Schiffe mehr als tausendmal gerammt zu haben. Vietnam fühlt sich von einer chinesischen Ölbohrinsel nahe seiner Küste provoziert.

Im Streit um eine chinesische Ölplattform vor der Küste Vietnams sieht sich Peking als Opfer einer gezielten Karambolage durch vietnamesische Schiffe. "Es gab 63 vietnamesische Schiffe in der Gegend. Sie versuchten die Absperrung zu durchbrechen und rammten chinesische Regierungsschiffe insgesamt 1416-mal", teilte das Außenministerium in Peking über einen Vorfall vom Samstag mit.

Die Ölplattform Haiyang Shiyou 981 bohrt zwischen den Paracel-Inseln und der vietnamesischen Küste nach Öl. Vietnam moniert, Chinas Bohrinsel operiere auf der vietnamesischen Kontinentalplatte und befinde sich zudem innerhalb der 200-Meilen-Zone, in der ein Land die exklusiven Wirtschaftsrechte genießt. [Weiterlesen]

Why China Should Be Worried About This Game Of Beach Volleyball

09.06.2014 By Hayes Brown (ThinkProgress) - It was a friendly game of beach volleyball, complete with beers and a side-game of soccer. But Sunday’s match between Vietnamese and Filipino troops on a small island in the South China Sea could have Beijing concerned about the future of its territorial claims in the region.

The Spratly Islands are a small chain of islands that are in and of themselves barely inhabitable mounds of dirt, floating in the South China Sea. What has the countries surrounding the islands intensely interested in their fate, however, is the estimated stores of minerals and energy-wealth under the ocean floor surrounding them. Whoever has ownership of the islands will vastly alter the boundaries of their Exclusive Economic Zone which grants them the rights to harvest any materials found beneath the water.

China continues to declare its sovereignty over several disputed areas in what has been seen as a stand-in for a bid for regional dominance. Beijing is also quarreling with Japan over the fate of the islands in the East China Sea called the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China. Several countries, including the Philippines, have tried to draw China into talks at the Law of the Sea Tribunal in the Hague over the issue, but so far China has refused those calls. [read more]

Spratly Islands: China denounces Vietnam, Philippines over volleyball and soccer games, claims Vietnamese ramming ships

09.06.2014 (Radio Australia) - China has denounced Vietnam and the Philippines for playing soccer and volleyball on a disputed island in the South China Sea, calling it "a clumsy farce" and demanded both countries stop causing trouble. The comments by a foreign ministry spokeswoman were China's first response to the gathering on the Vietnamese-held island of Southwest Cay on Sunday. Philippine naval officials described the meeting of soldiers from the two sides as a chance to show there can be harmony despite a web of overlapping claims to the potentially energy-rich waters. Diplomats and experts have described the partnership between Hanoi and Manila as part of a web of evolving relationships across Asia that are being driven by a fear of China, as well as doubts among some over the US's commitment to the region. [read more]China bezichtigt Vietnam der Massenkarambolage

09.06.2014 (Hamburger Abendblatt) - Da hat jemand genau mitgezählt: Im Streit um eine Ölplattform im Südchinesischen Meer sollen vietnamesische Schiffe 1416 Mal chinesische Regierungsschiffe gerammt haben.

Peking dreht den Spieß um: Im Streit um eine chinesische Ölplattform vor der Küste Vietnams sieht sich nun China als Opfer gezielter Karambolage durch vietnamesische Schiffe. Wenige Tage zuvor hatte Vietnam der chinesischen Marine vorgeworfen, mutwillig gegen seine Schiffe zu fahren.

"Es gab 63 vietnamesische Schiffe in der Gegend. Sie versuchten die Absperrung zu durchbrechen, und rammten chinesische Regierungsschiffe insgesamt 1416 Mal", teilte das Außenministerium in Peking über einen Vorfall vom Samstag mit.

Nach Angaben aus Vietnam versenkte ein chinesisches Schiff ein vietnamesisches Fischerboot. Die zehnköpfige Besatzung sei gerettet worden. Aus China hieß es dagegen, das Fischerboot habe die Chinesen zuerst gerammt.

Das am Donnerstag veröffentlichte Video zeigt ein großes Schiff, das auf das Fischerboot zufährt und es rammt, bis es kehrt macht und sinkt. Das Video sei von einem vietnamesischen Fischer aufgenommen worden, berichteten die Staatsmedien. Der Name des rammenden Schiffes ist auf dem Video nicht zu erkennen.

China vertrieb 1974 die Marine Südvietnams von den Paracel-Inseln, ganz in der Nähe des Ortes, an dem nun die Ölplattform liegt. 75 vietnamesische Soldaten kamen dabei ums Leben. Beide Länder lieferten sich 1979 einen kurzen, aber blutigen Grenzkrieg. [Weiterlesen]

Beijing pushes Manila, Hanoi closer

Vietnam and Philippines form united front as China issues claims of belligerent behavior at sea

09.06.2014 Reuters (The Japan Times) - BEIJING/MANILA – China has accused Vietnam of ramming its ships more than 1,000 times in a disputed part of the South China Sea and said while it wants good relations with its southern neighbor, it would not abandon principles to achieve that.

The accusation came after Vietnamese and Philippine troops got together Sunday on a Vietnamese-held island in the disputed Spratlys to play soccer and volleyball, as well as drink beer, in a display of unity that did not go unnoticed in Beijing.

Philippine naval officials billed the event on the Vietnamese-held island as a chance to show the world there can be harmony in the South China Sea despite a web of overlapping claims to the potentially energy-rich waters. The gathering on Southwest Cay in the Spratly archipelago also symbolizes how once-suspicious neighbors are cooperating in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in disputed waters. [read more]

History is a weapon in China

Hypocrisy is the least of the problems associated with China’s selective use of history.

09.06.2014 Adam Minter (Korea JoongAng Daily) - For China’s autocrats, history is a weapon. This past weekend, for example, a Chinese general told Southeast Asian nations that their territorial claims in the South China Sea were irrelevant because “China has had indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea for around 2,000 years,” reported the state-owned CCTV network. Don’t like it? Then learn to “respect history” as China’s defense minister told his Vietnamese counterpart in late May, after Vietnamese protesters turned violent in response to Chinese incursions into what Vietnam considers its territory. In this context, history is the rhetorical equivalent of a dismissive wave of a hand that brings an end to a pointless conversation.

Hypocrisy is the least of the problems associated with this selective use of history. As Louisa Lim, a former China correspondent for National Public Radio, puts it in her recently published book “The People’s Republic of Amnesia,” the real problem is what happens when a poorly kept secret isn’t secret anymore

Lim and others point out that among young Chinese, what happened in Tiananmen isn’t a memory, much less a point on a timeline. But how long can these same young, educated and Internet-savvy people be kept from a history that the rest of the world already knows, but which is denied to them? If history is any guide, the answer to that question won’t come from those who try to shape and censor it. [read more]

China tells PH off on reef reclamation, says ‘it’s none of your business’

08.06.2014 By Tarra Quismundo (Philippine Daily Inquirer) - It’s none of your business.

That was China’s response to the Philippines’ report of the discovery of further Chinese land reclamation on reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

In a press conference in Beijing on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei insisted that China had “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, including parts of the archipelago within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) known to Filipinos as West Philippine Sea.

“Any action taken by China on any island falls within China’s sovereignty and has nothing to do with the Philippines,” he said.

But Malacañang has turned down suggestions of a Vietnam-like response to China’s activities on Gavin Reefs (Gaven Reefs) and Malvar Reef (Eldad Reef). [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Im chinesischen Meer China baut sich künstliche Kampfinsel

08.06.2014 (Bild) - China startet die nächste Offensive, seine Machtansprüche zu manifestieren. Eine fest installierte Kampfinsel soll Ländern wie Vietnam und den Philippinen verdeutlichen: Hier haben wir das Sagen!

Das Vorhaben: Ganz in der Nähe der von allen drei Ländern beanspruchten Spratly Inseln am Johnson Riff hat die chinesische Regierung eine künstliche Insel anlegen lassen – samt Flughafen und Hafen.

Später sollen chinesische Militäreinheiten von der Insel aus mit Nachschub versorgt werden. Auch einen Außenposten des chinesischen Geheimdienstes soll es auf der Insel geben.

Man will Stärke demonstrieren und den Luftraum besser überwachen können, sagte ein Insider der Tageszeitung „South China Morning Post“.

Auch der Inselstreit zwischen China und Japan schwelt weiter. Die japanische Regierung will nach Informationen der Tageszeitung „Yomiuri Shimbun” auf entlegenen Inseln neue Militärstützpunkte einrichten. [Weiterlesen]

Deciphering China’s ‘Nine Dash Line’ and the law of the sea

08.06.2014 By John Kemp, Reuters (Gulf-Times) - Territorial disputes over tiny islands and reefs in the South China Sea are poisoning relations between China and its neighbours in Southeast Asia. “In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea,” US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told an audience in Singapore last month. In 2009, Vietnam and Malaysia submitted a joint claim to the continental shelf under UNCLOS. In 2013, the Philippines requested binding arbitration in its territorial dispute with China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. China has refused to accept arbitration. [read more] China plans artificial island in disputed Spratlys chain in South China Sea

07.06.2014 Kristine Kwok and Minnie Chan (South China Morning Post) - China is looking to expand its biggest installation in the Spratly Islands into a fully formed artificial island, complete with airstrip and sea port, to better project its military strength in the South China Sea, a Chinese scholar and a Chinese navy expert have said.

The planned expansion on the disputed Fiery Cross Reef, if approved, would be a further indication of China's change of tack in handling long-running sovereignty disputes from a defensive stance to an offensive one, analysts said. They said it was seen as a step to the declaration of an air defence identification zone. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China sends more ships to Vietnam waters

07.06.2014 (The Manila Times) - HANOI: Vietnamese Fisheries Surveillance Department (VSFD) staff yesterday reported high-capacity Chinese vessels in waters around the Haiyang Shiyou-981 rig, which is illegally standing in Vietnam’s waters.

They said the vessels had bulbous bows and were accompanied by two Chinese coast-guard ships. Together with Chinese fishing vessels, they kept on hampering Vietnamese vessels, occasionally throwing stones and bottles.

China still has a fleet of between 110-115 ships around the rig, including about 40 coast-guard vessels, about 30 cargo ships and tugboats, 35-40 fishing vessels and four military ships. [read more]

SDF transport ship arrives in Vietnam

07.06.2014 Jiji Press (The Japan News) - DA NANG, Vietnam — The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s transport vessel Kunisaki arrived Friday at the central Vietnamese port of Da Nang to join a U.S. Navy-led humanitarian training exercise.

The Kunisaki is set to visit the Philippines in addition to Vietnam, in an apparent show of Japan’s solidarity with the two Southeast Asian countries against China’s maritime assertiveness. [read more]

Abstriche am Pazifismus

07.06.2014 Patrick Zoll, Tokio (NZZ) - Japans Selbstverteidigungsstreitkräfte sollen wie eine normale Armee agieren und Alliierten zu Hilfe eilen können. Das Vorhaben von Ministerpräsident Abe stösst allerdings auf Widerstand.

Shinzo Abe hat vergangene Woche am Sicherheitsforum Shangri-La-Dialog in Singapur ein düsteres Bild der Sicherheitslage in Ostasien gezeichnet. Es sei zu bedauern, sagte Japans Regierungschef in seiner Eröffnungsrede , dass ein so grosser Teil des wirtschaftlichen Wachstums in die Rüstung fliesse. Die Region sei von Massenvernichtungswaffen bedroht und von Versuchen, den Status quo mit Gewalt oder Drohungen zu verändern. Japan sei bereit, dieser Entwicklung entschieden entgegenzutreten und einen «proaktiven Beitrag zum Frieden» zu leisten: «Das bedeutet, dass Japan keine Anstrengung und Mühe scheut, zum Frieden und zur Sicherheit des Asien-Pazifik-Raums beizutragen.» [Weiterlesen]

Boats and brinksmanship up close in the South China Sea

06.06.2014 By Euan McKirdy (CNN) - Vietnam Coast Guard 8003, South China Sea (CNN) -- To be at the front line of a "cold war" is, these days, a rare thing -- particularly when that front line is a remote chain of islands in the South China Sea, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest landfall.

The waters around the Paracel Islands, a largely unpopulated archipelago administered by China but claimed by Vietnam, have become the "battleground" in an increasingly volatile territorial dispute between the two communist neighbors.

Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to witness the spat up close, CNN traveled to the area with the Vietnamese Coast Guard.

Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi ratcheted up last month, when a Chinese state-owned company deployed an oil rig in waters off the Paracels. It was set up unilaterally, without any discussion between the two sides, much to the annoyance of the Vietnamese who view it as a Chinese incursion into their sovereign waters. [read more]

Pentagon: Chinese military spending exceeds $145 billion, drones advanced

06.06.2014 (The Asahi Shimbun) - WASHINGTON--Chinese military spending exceeded $145 billion last year as it advanced a program modernizing an arsenal of drones, warships, jets, missiles and cyber weapons, the Pentagon said on June 5, offering a far higher figure than Beijing's official tally.

The Pentagon's estimate, using 2013 prices and exchange rates, was 21 percent above the $119.5 billion figure announced by China. It was detailed in an annual report to Congress that cited steady progress in Chinese defense capabilities.

Der Bericht kam nur wenige Tage nach Verteidigungsminister Chuck Hagel, mit ungewöhnlich starke Sprache, beschuldigte Peking der Destabilisierung der Region bei der Verfolgung der territorialen Ansprüche.

China beansprucht fast das gesamte Öl-und gasreiche Südchinesische Meer und entlässt konkurrierende Ansprüche aus Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, den Philippinen und Malaysia. Japan hat auch einen territorialen Streit mit China über Inseln im Ostchinesischen Meer.

Die 96-Seiten-Bericht sagte, China den Schwerpunkt auf die Vorbereitung für mögliche Eventualitäten in der Süd-und Ost-China Seas und stellt fest, im Oktober ein Bohrer namens Maneuver 5 im philippinischen Meer. [read more]

Vietnam Urges 'Practical US Actions' in S. China Sea

06.06.2014 Tra Mi (VOA) - WASHINGTON — Vietnam is calling on the United States to take a larger role in protecting the peace and settling conflicts in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

A foreign ministry spokesman in Hanoi, Le Hai Binh, said Friday, "We hope that the U.S. will have a stronger voice and make further practical acts to contribute to protecting maritime safety and security in the region and resolving the disputes there in accordance with international law.”

The Vietnamese call for more U.S. involvement comes as Vietnamese ships continue to clash with Chinese ships near a controversial oil rig that Beijing placed in disputed waters last month. [read more]

Philippine gov't fears China reclaiming more land

06.06.2014 Tarra Quismundo, TJ Burgonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer (ANN) - A new diplomatic protest to be lodged if the Chinese activities at Gavin and Calderon reefs proved to be land reclamation, as on Mabini Reef

Expressing concern, Philippine President Aquino said Chinese ships were seen moving around other reefs in the West Philippine Sea possibly to reclaim land, but he vowed to see through a peaceful resolution of the country’s territorial dispute with China in the United Nations.

Aquino said Philippine authorities had observed the movement of Chinese ships around Gavin and Calderon reefs in the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea within Manila’s 370-kilometre exclusive economic zone recognised under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. [read more]

Handy und Sichel

05.06.2014 Von Matthias Lohre (Die Zeit) - Das kommunistische Vietnam fördert die Unterhaltungsindustrie und gehört doch zu den brutalsten Gegnern der Meinungsfreiheit. Internetaktivisten riskieren viel.

Sein Ausflug in die Freiheit dauert nur 24 Minuten. Nguyen Van Dai sitzt in einem kleinen Café in Hanoi. Aus dem Radio kommen süßliche Popsongs, er erzählt, wie er als junger Rechtsanwalt Jurastudenten lehrte, dass die Menschenrechte auch für politisch Andersdenkende gelten. ...

Im 90-Millionen-Land existieren mehr als 850 Zeitungen und Magazine, 66 Fernseh- und Radiosender und 80 Onlinezeitungen. Sie alle stehen unter zentraler Kontrolle durch das Propaganda- und Bildungsministerium in Hanoi. Seit September 2013 gilt Dekret 72. Es untersagt Vietnamesen, Informationen zu verbreiten, die dem "nationalen Interesse schaden" könnten. Internetnutzer dürfen in Mails, Blogs oder sozialen Netzwerken keine "allgemeinen Informationen" mehr verbreiten. Lakonisch titelte das US-Magazin Time: "Kümmert euch nur noch um Promiklatsch." [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

China extends protective zone around disputed oil rig

05.06.2014 By Daniel J. Graeber (UPI) - HANOI, Vietnam -- Chinese authorities have expanded a zone of protection around an oil rig in the South China Sea by about 45 percent, a Vietnamese official said.

"Previously, Chinese vessels protecting the oil rig operated within 5-6 nautical miles around the platform, but they have now expanded their ranges of operation to 8 nautical miles," Nguyen Ngoc Oai, the head of Vietnam's Fisheries Surveillance Department, told Voice of America's Vietnamese service Wednesday. [read more]

Vietnam veröffentlicht Video von Angriff

05.06.2014 (n-tv) - Ein neues Video zeigt nach Darstellung vietnamesischer Staatsmedien einen gefährlichen chinesischen Angriff auf ein vietnamesisches Fischerboot. Hanoi hatte am 25. Mai gegen einen Zwischenfall in der Nähe der Paracelsus Inseln vor Mittelvietnam protestiert, die beide Länder beanspruchen.

Nach Angaben aus Vietnam versenkte ein chinesisches Schiff ein vietnamesisches Fischerboot. Die zehnköpfige Besatzung sei gerettet worden. [Weiterlesen]

China bent on pushing ‘expansion agenda’—DFA chief

05.06.2014 By Matikas Santos (INQUIRER.net) - MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario sees China’s “expansion agenda” in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) as the reason why it continues its “aggressive, provocative” acts and why it is does not want a legally binding Code of Conduct (COC) to be concluded.

“I’m not very optimistic about whether China is serious on an expeditious conclusion of a COC because the aggressive, provocative acts that we are seeing now is their way to pursue their expansion agenda,” del Rosario said during the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) conference Thursday. [read more]

Die Ukraine des fernen Ostens

05.06.2014 von Sascha Daniel Wölck (Jungle World) - Der Konflikt zwischen Vietnam und China um Gebiete im Südchinesischen Meer hat zu gewalttätigen antichinesischen Protesten in Vietnam geführt. Ihre genauen Ursachen sind umstritten, der Konflikt besteht allerdings schon lange.

Vom amtierenden Ministerpräsidenten Vietnams, Nguyen Tan Dung, erhielt ich eine SMS. Darin drückte er seine Liebe zur vietnamesischen Bevölkerung aus und bat darum, dass man sich von Provokateuren nicht zu Dummheiten hinreißen lasse. Meine Enttäuschung war mäßig, als sich zeigte, dass diese Nachricht in dieser oder ähnlicher Form durch alle nationalen Mobilfunknetze ging....

Die Verantwortung für die jüngsten Ausschreitungen bei von China gesteuerten Provokateuren zu suchen, blendet die schlechten Bedingungen aus, unter denen viele Beschäftigte arbeiten müssen. Hinzu kommen die allgemeine Wut über Chinas Zugriff auf vietnamesische Ressourcen und die Erfahrung sozialer Ungleichheit zwischen chinesischen und vietnamesischen Arbeitern.

Die einzige Chance Vietnams, sich in dem Konflikt mit China zu behaupten, besteht in einer gemeinsamen Politik mit anderen Staaten im Südchinesischen Meer, die mit vergleichbaren Ansprüchen Chinas zu kämpfen haben, insbesondere Japan und die Philippinen. [Weiterlesen]

Chinas Provokationen in der Außenpolitik sind kühl kalkuliert

04.06.2014 Von Andrew Browne (The Wall Street Journal Deutschland) - Noch bis vor kurzem hielten die meisten Beobachter Chinas aggressives Vorgehen im Südchinesischen Meer für das Ergebnis einer eher zufälligen Außenpolitik – angetrieben von rivalisierenden Behörden mit ganz unterschiedlichen Interessen, in denen sich oft die besonders aggressiven Vertreter durchsetzten.

Die jüngsten Maßnahmen Chinas haben die Nachbarländer und die USA erheblich alarmiert. Dazu zählt die Entscheidung, eine Bohrplattform in Gewässern zu platzieren, die auch von Vietnam beansprucht werden. Nun erscheint Chinas Politik nicht länger als das Ergebnis eines politischen Durcheinanders, sondern einer gezielten Planung, sagen chinesische wie ausländische Sicherheitsexperten. Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die Maßnahmen auf höchster politischer Ebene koordiniert wurden. Am Ende könnten sie gar das Siegel von Staatspräsident Xi Jinping tragen.

Rätselhaft ist für viele langjährige China-Experten, warum Xi sich bei der Durchsetzung seiner historischen Rechte mit vielen asiatischen Nachbarn gleichzeitig auf Konfrontationskurs geht. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

G7 concerned by Asian maritime tensions

05.06.2014 By AFP (The Economic Times) - BRUSSELS: Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised nations said today they were deeply concerned by tensions in the East and South China Sea.

The G7 leaders meeting in Brussels warned against any use of force in the area, where the United States has warned Beijing over increasing territorial assertiveness.

"We are deeply concerned by tensions in the East and South China Sea," the leaders said in a statement at the end of a first day of talks in the Belgian capital. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

South China Sea disputes may disrupt trade in Asia

05.06.2014 Raul Dancel, The Straits Times (ANN) - In a news briefing here yesterday, US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker criticised China's decision to tow a deep-water oil rig 300km from Vietnam's shores. Such actions "are provocative and raise tensions, and we're very concerned about that", she said.

In an separate interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the risk that territorial disputes will damage trade in Asia is "very real".

Yesterday, China rejected a ruling by the United Nations tribunal in The Hague giving it six months to respond to a case filed by the Philippines over disputed waters, saying it has no plans to take part. China has said it prefers a bilateral approach to resolve the conflicts. [read more]

Ein Moment, ein Foto und ein ganzes Leben

04.06.2014 Von Christoph Giesen (Süddeutsche Zeitung) - Vor 25 Jahren fotografierte Jeff Widener den Mann, der beim Massaker am Platz des Himmlischen Friedens in Peking eine Panzerkolonne stoppte. Die Aufnahme vom "Tank Man" machte Geschichte. Der Journalist muss damit klarkommen.

Der Mann, der eines der berühmtesten Fotos des 20. Jahrhunderts geschossen hat, sitzt in einem Hamburger Apartement und archiviert seine Bilder. Seit ein paar Jahren lebt er hier gemeinsam mit seiner Frau, einer Lehrerin. 57 Jahre ist Jeff Widener nun alt, ein Veteran des Journalismus.

Im Frühjahr 1989 hatte Widener von Bangkok aus die Lage in Peking im Blick. Nach dem Tod des beliebten Parteichefs Hu Yaobang hatten Studenten im April den Platz des Himmlischen Friedens besetzt und eine Zeltstadt errichtet, sie forderten mehr Demokratie. Mitte Mai drängten sich täglich fast eine Million Menschen auf dem Platz und legten das Zentrum der chinesischen Hauptstadt lahm. Als Michail Gorbatschow, der Generalsekretär der KPdSU, zum Staatsbesuch kam, musste Chinas Führung ihn durch die Hintertür in den Zhongnanhai, die Machtzentrale der Volksrepublik geleiten. [Weiterlesen]

China-Vietnam Conflict in The South China Sea

04.06.2014 By EconMatters (ZeroHedge) - China is on a roll upsetting neighbors from all directions in its aggressive stance towards territorial claims.

East China Sea

In the East China Sea, tension and hostility from the row with Japan over a group of uninhabited islands, (known as Diaoyu in China, Senkaku in Japan, Diaoyutai in Taiwan) has dialed up:         

Last November, China created a new air-defense identification zone to include Diaoyu, and would require any aircraft in the zone to comply with rules set by Beijing.

In May 2014, Tokyo reportedly is planning to set up 3 military outposts near the islands to boost Japan’s defense of ‘its outlying islands’.  A close call to blows about two weeks ago when China scrambled four fighter jets to deter Japanese aircrafts in the disputed water where China just carried out joint maritime exercises with Russia. [read more]

Hague tribunal asks China to defend sea claims

04.06.2014 By Jim Gomez (ABC News) - MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A Hague-based tribunal has asked China to submit evidence defending its territorial claims in the South China Sea within six months despite Beijing's refusal to respond to a Philippine complaint questioning the legality of Beijing's claims.

On Wednesday, Philippine officials pressed for China to join the arbitration process as a peaceful solution to the long-raging territorial disputes, which have flared in recent years.

The tribunal issued a statement Tuesday giving China until Dec. 15 to submit written arguments and evidence against the Philippine complaint, which questioned the validity of China's so-called "nine-dash" territorial claim. That refers to a rough demarcation on official Chinese maps that envelops virtually the entire South China Sea. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

China wields history as weapon, except on June 4

04.06.2014 by Adam Minter (The Japan Times) - SHANGHAI – For China’s autocrats, history is a weapon. This past weekend, for example, a Chinese general told Southeast Asian nations that their territorial claims in the South China Sea were irrelevant because “China has had indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea for around 2,000 years,” reported the state-owned CCTV network. Don’t like it? Then learn to “respect history” as China’s Defense Minister told his Vietnamese counterpart in late May, after Vietnamese protesters turned violent in response to Chinese incursions into what Vietnam considers its territory. In this context, history is the rhetorical equivalent of a dismissive wave of a hand that brings an end to a pointless conversation. ... In China, these repeated references to history are so common, and so easy to ignore, that they become most noticeable when they’re suddenly absent. Think of someone who falls asleep in front of a noisy television, only to be awakened by the silence left when someone else shuts it off. That’s how it feels to be in China during the annual period of paranoia that occurs around the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Suddenly, the history is gone, and you’re left wondering what exactly happened. [read more]

Chinese, Vietnamese Coast Guard Boats Collide

A collision between coast guard vessels from the two countries indicates a minor escalation

04.06.2014 By Ankit Panda (The Diplomat) - The stand-off between China and Vietnam over the former’s decision to place an oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea escalated on Tuesday when a Chinese coast guard ship rammed a Vietnamese coast guard ship. The Vietnamese vessel allegedly suffered several “gashes” in its metal hull according to the Wall Street Journal. No Vietnamese sailors were injured and the boat did not sink. The incident reflects a sort of escalation in the dispute. While a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese civilian vessel (a fishing boat) last month, Tuesday’s incident is a case of two coast guard ships from the two countries becoming involved in a physical altercation. In another incident, a Chinese vessel fired a water cannon at a Vietnamese ocean inspection ship. No naval assets from either side were involved in either exchange. [read more]

Vietnam’s Role in Japan’s Southeast Asia Strategy

Japan is calibrating its cooperation with Vietnam in order to support Abe’s larger agenda

04.06.2014 By Clint Richards (The Diplomat) - As The Diplomat has noted extensively since last week, the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last weekend saw Japan and the U.S. square off against China in asserting their interpretations of recent events in the South China Sea and East China Sea. China’s recent territorial conflicts with Vietnam and the Philippines, and the Japanese government’s attempt to normalize its security role in the region, were the main examples used by the opposing sides to showcase the threat to security posed by their opponent. As the dust begins to settle from the atmospherics over the weekend, Vietnam appears to be the country most interested in aligning with Japan, and willing to increase the scope of their security partnership. Japan is showing itself to be a willing partner, albeit with some important caveats.

On Sunday, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and his Vietnamese counterpart Gen. Phung Quang Thanh agreed to increase their countries’ defense cooperation. The Japan Times reported that Onodera told Thanh “that Japan supports Vietnam’s handling of its recent standoff with China, that the use of force to change the status quo should not be tolerated and that the issue should be resolved through dialogue.” However, the Vietnamese defense minister said the dispute with China over its maritime boundary should be handled peacefully, and in accordance with international law. Both Japan and Vietnam have made constant reference to the use of international law; China is unwilling to take the issue before international arbitration and regards the issue as a historical matter. [read more]

Prosecutors Forbidden From Leaving Russia Without State Permission, Activist Say

04.06.2014 (The Moscow Times) - Russian prosecutors have been ordered to hand over their international passports and seek special authorization for vacationing abroad, with travel permitted to only a handful of countries such as China and Vietnam, a human rights activist said.

Pavel Chikov, the head of the Agora human rights association, said in a Twitter message Tuesday that prosecutors had been told to turn in their passports used for foreign travel. Chikov said he did not know the reason for the travel restriction, according to Govorit Moskva. [read more]

Chinese ships fire water cannon, ram Vietnamese boats: report

03.06.2014 Keira Lu Huang (South China Morning Post) - Incidents took place in disputed South China Sea waters near controversial oil rig, according to China National Radio’s military channel

A Chinese ship fired water cannon at a Vietnamese vessel near a controversial South China Sea oil rig on Sunday, in the two nations’ latest confrontation in disputed waters.

The incident happened at around 12.30pm, according to a report on China National Radio’s military channel.

After the collision, two other Chinese vessels reportedly blocked support units deployed by Vietnam’s coastguard to help the damaged ship. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

As sabers rattle, Vietnamese businesses fret

03.06.2014 By Chris Brummitt (AP) - HANOI, Vietnam -- Like thousands of other factory owners in Vietnam, Nguyen Van Phuc relies on China for the expertise and raw materials needed to keep his production line humming. But spiking tensions between Hanoi and Beijing over maritime territorial claims are threatening that relationship and his bottom line.

Chinese technicians scheduled to upgrade his equipment are too spooked to visit following anti-China violence. His Chinese suppliers no longer accept cash on delivery, fearing an even sharper deterioration in relations would leave them out of pocket, so Phuc must now pay more from a third-party supplier.

"The thing with using economics as a weapon is that it is artillery fire in both directions," said Jason Morris-Jung, a Vietnam expert at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. "If you punish a seller in Vietnam, you also hurt a buyer in China, and vice versa." [read more]

Businesses bracing for breaks in China-Vietnam trade network

03.06.2014 Manabu Ito, Nikkei staff writer (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- With Sino-Vietnamese tensions still running high a month after a territorial dispute flared up in the South China Sea, companies operating in Vietnam are making contingency plans for a disruption of the logistics network linking the two sides.

Some had feared that customs inspections would be tightened. But business appears to be continuing as usual, and truck traffic remains brisk at the Huu Nghi checkpoint. Still, fewer travelers are crossing the border, and immigration offices are nearly deserted. The conflict is starting to affect tourism and the distribution of everyday goods.

"In the worst-case scenario, we'll have to consider manufacturing without China," says Hitoshi Fujiwara, a Fuji Xerox director who handles the Japanese company's Vietnamese business. [read more]

Chine - Vietnam : frères ennemis

02.06.2014 Par Stéphane Pambrun, à Pékin (Jeune Afrique) - En dépit de leur proximité géographique et culturelle, les deux pays sont au bord de la guerre. À cause d'un simple différend territorial en mer de Chine méridionale ? Pas seulement.

Depuis la guerre de Corée, dans les années 1950, la Chine n'a connu qu'un seul conflit armé : c'était contre le Vietnam. Une guerre marquée par deux épisodes majeurs, en 1979 et en 1988, qui aboutit à une humiliante défaite de ses troupes. Malgré leur proximité culturelle, idéologique - ils sont l'un et l'autre officiellement communistes - et géographique, les deux pays ne s'aiment pas. Certes, la Chine apporta son soutien aux troupes du Nord-Vietnam pendant la guerre contre les États-Unis (1955-1975), mais ce ne fut qu'une parenthèse dans une litanie de conflits. Depuis toujours, deux nationalismes et deux ambitions régionales s'opposent. [en savoir plus]

Tensions bubble up as China starts drilling

02.06.2014 Author: David Brown (East Asia Forum) - In the aftermath of rioting directed against factories operated by Chinese and other East Asian companies on 12–13 May, Vietnam’s media and blogs were filled with speculation about the cause.

Some opined that Chinese agents were behind the riots, while others guessed that it was provocateurs deployed by the regime. Some speculated further still that the upheaval was orchestrated by cadres of the banned Viet Tan Party. Yet, after a week of debate, Vietnam’s bloggers and pundits failed to identify an unseen mover. Though some local police headquarters claimed to have found evidence that a core group of rioters received cash and instruction, clearly for the great majority of participants the riots were an unscripted and spontaneous event. [read more]

Report: Vietnam needs break from China

China-Vietnam oil tensions expose economic weaknesses

02.06.2014 By Daniel J. Graeber (UPI) - HANOI, Vietnam - Amid tensions over a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters, an economic policy center in Hanoi said Vietnam needs to take steps to reduce its ties to China.

An annual report from the Vietnam Center for Economic and Policy Research says Vietnam's economy is expected to slow down because of ongoing tensions with China over an oil rig operating in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

"Facing tensions with China, Vietnam needs to commit to changing its economic model, development path and ideology in governing its economy," the report said. "The economic slowdown has offered a number of reasons to call for radical reforms and reduce dependence on China." [read more]

Vietnam Threatens Legal Action Against China

Vietnam appears set to use international law to settle its territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea

02.06.2014 By Zachary Keck (The Diplomat) - A number of Vietnamese officials have now threatened to bring legal action against China over their territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Speaking to Bloomberg News on Friday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that Vietnam is preparing to bring its territorial row with China to an international arbitrator. “We are prepared and ready for legal action,” Dung said, according to Bloomberg. “We are considering the most appropriate timing to take this measure.”

Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh reiterated the prime minister’s statement on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore over the weekend. He also stated that China has asked Vietnam not to pursue legal action. “They [China] have asked us several times not to bring the case to international court,” Vinh told reporters on the sidelines of the annual security forum. “Our response was that it’s up to China’s activities and behavior; if they continue to push us, we have no choice. This [legal] option is also in accordance with international law.” [read more]

Australian defence minister backs US on China’s ‘destabilising’ actions

David Johnston says he supports US defense secretary’s view that China is undertaking ‘destabilising, unilateral actions’ in the South China Sea

02.06.2014 (The Guardian) - Australia’s defence minister David Johnston has backed comments by his US counterpart Chuck Hagel accusing China of "destabilising" actions in the South China Sea.

Speaking in Singapore on Saturday, Hagel accused China of a number of alleged infractions, including against the Philippines and Vietnam, the two most vocal critics of Beijing's territorial claims.

"In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea," the US secretary of defense told the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.

Johnston told Fairfax Media, in an interview from Singapore published on Monday, that he supported their view. [read more]

Vietnam: Turning Point?

02.06.2014  Written by David Brown (Asia Sentinel) - Sudden shocks have a way of resetting the agenda

It's been more than a month since China’s deep water oil drilling rig Haiyang 981 dropped anchor in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.  Beijing's deployment of the US$1 billion rig and an armada of escort vessels shocked the Vietnamese regime, shattering illusions about its "comprehensive strategic partnership" with China. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnamese crew speaks out about ship sinking incident in disputed waters

02.06.2014 By Euan McKirdy (CNN) - Da Nang, Vietnam - When fishing in fiercely-contested territorial waters, a certain amount of risk must be assumed. For the crew of Vietnamese fishing boat Dna 90152 TS, the worst-case scenario happened early last week when their ship was capsized by what they insist was a Chinese military vessel.

The ship's captain, Dang Van Nhan, told CNN via an interpreter that on May 26, he and his crew were sailing in Vietnamese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters, around 17 nautical miles (NM) from a Chinese oil rig near the Paracel Islands. The islands in the South China Sea have become the centerpiece in a territorial row between China and Vietnam.

The crew was working their wooden fishing boat around 4 p.m. when they noticed a vessel steaming towards their ship. [read more]

China wants to avoid court over maritime disputes, says Vietnam official

02.06.2014 Kristine Kwok in Singapore (South China Morning Post) - China has repeatedly asked Vietnam not to take the two countries' maritime territorial dispute to an international court, a top Vietnamese military official said yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh said the country had yet to decide when to seek international arbitration but the decision hinged on China's actions in the South China Sea.

"They [China] have asked us several times not to bring the case to international court," Vinh said in comments to Japanese media that were provided to the South China Morning Post. [read more]

Will nationalism undo Asia's economic success?

02.06.2014 Ansuya Harjani (CNBC) - Territorial spats between China and its neighbors over competing claims in the East and South China Seas have precipitated a groundswell of nationalism in Asia, which if unmanaged, threatens to destabilize the region, say experts.

"Nationalism is on the rise in Asia, which is a serious issue because it shifts the rationality of actors from cost-benefit calculations from an economic and military sense towards a cost-benefit calculation ideologically," Ruediger Frank, department head and professor of East Asian economy and society at the University of Vienna told CNBC.

Growing nationalism may force politicians to act in a much sharper way than they may have done previously to respond to public sentiment, he said, increasing the risk of conflict. [read more]

Warum China immer heftiger um Inseln streitet

In Asien werden Jahrzehnte alte Territorialkonflikte mit neuer Schärfe geführt. Insbesondere Peking ringt immer häufiger mit anderen Staaten um Inseln und Seegebiete.

01.06.2014, von Till Fähnders, Singapur (FAZ) - Bei den Gebietskonflikten im Süd- und Ostchinesischen Meer geht es nicht nur um mehrere hundert Inseln, Felsen und Riffe. Es spielen auch wirtschaftliche Überlegungen eine Rolle, da es in den umstrittenen Regionen neben reichen Fischgründen auch Vorkommen an Öl und Gas geben soll. Zudem geht es um geopolitische Fragen und strategische Handelswege. China möchte seine Einflusszone ausweiten und die Hegemonialmacht Amerika aus seiner Nachbarschaft zurückdrängen. Amerika bemüht sich im Gegenzug, seine Bündnisse mit Südkorea, Japan und einigen südostasiatischen Ländern wie den Philippinen und Vietnam zu stärken. China empfindet das als Einkreisung.

Die Dispute sind Jahrzehnte alt, haben sich aber besonders in den vergangenen fünf Jahren verschärft. Der Grund ist nach Ansicht von Fachleuten die zunehmend robuste Art, mit der China seine Interessen verfolgt, und auf Schritte der anderen Streitparteien reagiert. Als Gründe dafür werden der wirtschaftliche Aufstieg Chinas, die Modernisierung des Militärs, eine zunehmend nationalistisch denkenden Bevölkerung und die vielfältigen Interessen verschiedener Gruppen und Behörden in China genannt. [Weiterlesen]

Japan, Vietnam agree on strong defense ties amid China threats

01.06.2014 (Nikkei Asian Review) - SINGAPORE (Kyodo) -  Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phung Quang Thanh agreed Sunday to strengthen defense cooperation amid alarm in both countries over China's maritime assertiveness in the East and South China seas.

"We need to send a joint message among parties concerned because doing so will help resolve issues that we are confronting," Onodera told reporters after te talks, held on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Singapore.

Onodera told his counterpart at the outset that Japan supports Vietnam's handling of its recent standoff with China, that the use of force to change the status quo should not be tolerated and that the issue should be resolved through dialogue. [read more]

Schlagabtausch zwischen China und USA über Pekings Machtansprüche

01.06.2014 (Die Welt) - Singapur - Mit Rhetorik wie im Kalten Krieg haben die USA und China sich überraschend deutlich gegenseitig der Destabilisierung im Südchinesischen Meer bezichtigt.

US-Verteidigungsminister Chuck Hagel warf China am Wochenende Einschüchterung und Nötigung bei der Durchsetzung seiner Machtansprüche vor. Der Vize-Stabschef der Volksarmee, Wang Guanzhong, konterte mit dem Vorwurf von Provokationen und Bedrohungen von der US-Seite.

Zu der im Ton ungewöhnlich scharfen Konfrontation kam es bei der Sicherheitskonferenz Shangri-La-Dialog in Singapur, die am Sonntag zu Ende ging. Das australische Lowly-Institut sprach von einer «rhetorischen Salve» Wangs. «Er hat offensichtlich ein Gefühl für Drama», schrieb Sam Roggeveen auf der Webseite der Denkfabrik.

Streitpunkt sind Chinas Territorialansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer. Peking beansprucht Inseln vor den Küsten von Nachbarländern und hält Länder wie Vietnam und die Philippinen, die dagegen protestieren, mit seiner mächtigen Marine auf Distanz. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam expects Japan coast guard ships next year

01.06.2014 (The Asahi Shimbun) - SINGAPORE--Vietnam expects to take delivery of coast guard ships from Japan early next year, the country's vice defense minister said on June 1, as Hanoi looks to boost its defenses amid a territorial row with China in the South China Sea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on May 30 that Tokyo would provide Southeast Asian nations its "utmost support" in their territorial disputes over the South China Sea, in a speech that received a hostile response from China.

Some Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia have remained wary of speaking out against China for fear of damaging deep-rooted economic ties. [read more]

Japan, Vietnam discuss maritime disputes

01.06.2014 (NHK) - The defense ministers of Japan and Vietnam say territorial disputes in the East China and South China seas should be resolved peacefully.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and his Vietnamese counterpart, Phung Quang Thanh, met in Singapore on Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit.

Onodera expressed grave concern about a recent collision between Vietnamese and Chinese boats in the South China Sea. It resulted in the sinking of a Vietnamese boat. [read more]

China Hits Back at US, Japan for ‘Provocative’ Remarks

01.06.2014 AFP (jakartaglobe) - China strongly denounced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and United States Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Sunday for “provocative” remarks accusing Beijing of destabilizing actions in contested regional waters.

Lieutenant General Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), told an Asian security forum in Singapore that the comments had been “unacceptable”.

China is locked in heated disputes with various Southeast Asian countries over waters and territories in the South China Sea. Beijing and Tokyo also contest islands in the East China Sea. [read more]

La posible alianza entre los rivales marítimos de China irrita en Pekín

01.06.2014 (Yahoo Noticias) - Pekín (EFE) - China reaccionó hoy con indignación a los intentos de Estados Unidos, Japón y los países del sureste asiático por hacer causa común contra el régimen comunista en las disputas marítimas por los archipiélagos Paracel, Spratly y Diaoyu/Senkaku, que comienzan a tomar un cariz internacional.

China mantiene desde hace décadas contenciosos con Japón por las Diaoyu/Senkaku, con Vietnam por las Paracel y con diversos países del sureste asiático -sobre todo con Filipinas- por las Spratly, pero estos conflictos hasta ahora bilaterales amenazan con complicarse para Pekín, por la tendencia de esos países a unir sus reivindicaciones, bajo el paraguas estadounidense. [seguir leyendo]

Canadian PM Says Communism’s Promise of Utopia Created ‘Hell on earth’

01.06.2014 By Omid Ghoreishi (Epoch Times) - Canadian multi-millionaire Robert Herjavec squeezed his fortune out of a hard life that began in Croatia, then part of communist Yugoslavia, where his father faced a life and death behind bars because he wouldn’t stay quiet.

After being sent to prison 22 times for speaking out against the communist regime, Herjavec said his father was told the next time he went to prison, he’d never come out.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a lengthy speech, laying out in no uncertain terms his own thoughts on communist regimes. [read more]