by Admin | Jun 10, 2014 | News
(BGF) – Vietnam Communist Party still want to control the country’s dissident movement against China as it shows distrust the public gatherings of any sort, much less ones that risk posing a threat to public order. The New Zealand Herald Nevertheless said that some patriot bloggers shared their thought that it is time for the Communist Party of Vietnam to make a reform, not to rely on China as an economic partner anymore.
Click here to read the full article or visit the New Zealand Herald website.
Looming street protests a test for Vietnam
May 10, 2014
(Photo Credit : the Associated Press)HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – Vietnamese anger toward China is running at its highest level in years after Beijing deployed an oil rig in disputed waters. That’s posing a tricky question for Vietnam’s leaders: To what extent should they allow public protests that could morph into those against their own authoritarian rule?
At one level, the ruling Communist Party would like to harness the anger on the street to amplify its own indignation against China and garner international sympathy as naval ships from both countries engage in a tense standoff near the rig off the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
But Vietnam’s government instinctively distrusts public gatherings of any sort, much less ones that risk posing a threat to public order. And they also know that members of the country’s dissident movement are firmly embedded inside the anti-China one, and have used the issue to mobilize support in the past.
On Saturday, around 100 people protested outside the Chinese Consulate in the country’s commercial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, watched on by a large contingent of security officers. Dissident groups have called for larger demonstrations on Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City and in Hanoi, the capital.
The two Asian nations have a history of conflict going back 1,000 years, and the streets of Vietnam’s cities are named after heroes in those fights.
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by Admin | Jun 10, 2014 | News
(BGF) – On May 9, an US bipartisan group of senators, including Senators Robert Menendez, Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin, Jim Risch, and John McCain and Senator Patrick Leahy made a statement about the Maritime dispute in South China Sea, called recent actions by Chinese ships as “deeply troubling” and “threaten the free flow of global commerce in a vital region”. China’s unilateral declaration of an air defense identification zone in November and its ongoing harassment of Japanese vessels around Japanese-administered territory in the East China Sea all raise serious questions about China’s approach to regional security.
Click here to read the full press release or visit the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations website.
Senators Express Concerns over Maritime Dispute in South China Sea, Call Chinese Actions “Troubling”
May 9, 2014
Washington, DC – A bipartisan group of senators called recent actions by Chinese ships in the South China Sea “deeply troubling,” and urged their colleagues to pass a senate resolution reaffirming support of the U.S. government for freedom of navigation in the Asia-Pacific region and for the peaceful diplomatic resolution of outstanding territorial and maritime disputes.
The statement was issued by the co-sponsors of Senate Resolution 412, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jim Risch (R-ID), and John McCain (R-AZ) – all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
“China’s recent movement of an oil drilling rig escorted by military and other ships into disputed waters in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam — and the subsequent aggressive tactics used by Chinese ships, including the ramming of Vietnamese ships – is deeply troubling. These actions threaten the free flow of global commerce in a vital region. China’s unilateral declaration of an air defense identification zone in November and its ongoing harassment of Japanese vessels around Japanese-administered territory in the East China Sea all raise serious questions about China’s approach to regional security.
“Freedom of navigation, including freedom of operation for the U.S. Navy and other lawful uses of the sea and airspace in East Asia, are important to the prosperity of the United States and to the safety of the entire region. We urge the administration to make clear to China at the highest levels that territorial claims and disputes must be resolved peacefully, diplomatically and consistent with international law. Unilateral attempts to change the status quo or the use of force, coercion and intimidation are unacceptable and will only lead to instability.
“In April, we introduced a resolution which reaffirms U.S. support for freedom of navigation and operation in the region and urges all parties involved in territorial claims and disputes to seek peaceful diplomatic resolution of those disputes. We hope that our colleagues will join us in sending a strong message in response to these provocative actions by passing the resolution as soon as possible.”
by Admin | Jun 10, 2014 | News
(BGF) – Forbes reported that that six Vietnamese craft were injured in a collision on May 4 as China ships intentionally rammed two Vietnamese Sea Guard vessels. The tensions has escalated in the South China Sea as China brought its drilling rig in waters which claimed by both Vietnam and China. Beijing also brought a fleet of about 80 vessels to keep the Vietnamese from stopping the oil rig deployment.
Click here to read the full article or visit the Forbes website.
China’s Vessels Ram Vietnamese Craft In South China Sea
May 7, 2014 | By Gordon G. Chang
(Photo credit: Dantri.com.vn)
On Wednesday, Vietnamese officials announced that one of China’s ships intentionally rammed two of their Sea Guard vessels. The incidents took place on Sunday, the 4th. Six were injured, according to Hanoi.
“Chinese ships, with air support, sought to intimidate Vietnamese vessels,” said Tran Duy Hai of the Foreign Ministry at a news conference. Other officials said six other Vietnamese craft were hit.
The incidents occurred after China National Offshore Oil Corp., better known as CNOOC , had on May 2 towed a deep-water rig, the size of several football fields, to an area that Hanoi claims is within its exclusive economic zone, near the Paracel Islands. Beijing, with its infamous nine-dashed line on its maps, claims about 90% of the international waters of the South China Sea as an internal Chinese lake. The expansive—and largely indefensible—claim overlaps the coastal waters of Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia as well as Vietnam.
Beijing brought a fleet of about 80 vessels to keep the Vietnamese from stopping the oil rig, designated HD-981. CNOOC called HD-981 a “strategic weapon”at its launch in 2012.
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by Admin | Jun 10, 2014 | News
BEIJING (NYT) — It is the pride of China’s state-run oil industry and the nation’s first deepwater drilling rig, a vessel as big as a football field and as tall as a 40-story building, with a $1 billion price tag. Last week, it crawled through the South China Sea, pulled by heavy-duty tugs, and parked in one of the most sensitive spots possible, about 17 miles off a speck of an island claimed by both China and Vietnam.
The Vietnamese, at times embraced in brotherly Communist Party fealty by China, were taken by surprise. Hanoi assumed the rig, known as HD-981, was just passing through, people close to the government said.
At least twice in recent years, China has sought to explore these waters and backed down after protests by Vietnam. Just six months ago, during a visit of the Chinese prime minister to Hanoi, the two sides announced that they would try to find ways to jointly develop oil and gas fields.
That good will evaporated this week when Beijing made clear the drilling rig was staying put. It set off four days of confrontation, with dozens of Chinese and Vietnamese naval vessels ramming one another and China using water cannons in a standoff that threatens to push a region known for its economic development toward military conflict.
China has not been shy in recent years about making broad claims to control much of the South China Sea. But by installing an expensive drilling rig in disputed waters, it now appears more willing to act first and invite diplomacy later. It is in effect creating “facts” in the water that its regional rivals, and ultimately the United States, must either accept or fight.
China signaled it would take unilateral steps last year, when it declared an air defense zone over parts of the East China Sea that includes islands at the center of a long-smoldering dispute with Japan. In the battle of wills with Vietnam, China has unleashed a new and potentially powerful tool in its battle for territory: its oil industry and the rigs a state oil-company official once called “our mobile national territory.”
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by Admin | Jun 10, 2014 | News
(BGF) – The news of USA Today reported that Vietnamese ships and Chinese naval vessels collided Wednesday in the South China Sea as Hanoi sought to prevent Beijing from setting up an oil rig in waters claimed by both nations.
Click here to read the full article or visit the USA Today website.
Vietnam tries to stop China oil rig deployment
May 7, 2014 | By Chris Brummitt in Hanoi
(Photo Credit by Jin LiangKuai, AP)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese naval vessels and Chinese ships collided Wednesday in the South China Sea as Hanoi sought to prevent Beijing from setting up an oil rig in an area claimed by both nations, a Vietnamese government official said.
The official said no shots were fired and there were no reports of injuries in the incident, the most serious in years between the two countries at sea. If neither side steps down, clashes could break out between the two navies in what has long been regarded as a possible global flashpoint.
China’s stationing of the oil rig over the weekend has been seen as one of its most provocative steps in a gradual campaign of asserting its sovereignty in the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.
Two foreign diplomats said Vietnam dispatched up to 29 armed naval and coast guard ships to areas near the oil rig when it became aware of China’s intentions. Citing a Chinese diplomat, one said the Vietnamese deployment was meant to be a “show of force” to get Beijing to withdraw the rig.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
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