China has warned other countries to stay out of an ongoing dispute in the South China Sea, as tensions mount in a territorial row with Vietnam.
‘We hope that countries that are not parties to the South China Sea dispute truly respect the efforts of the countries concerned to resolve their disputes through consultation,’ Reuters quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei as saying.
The warning follows a request by Vietnam earlier this week for international involvement in the dispute with its neighbour after a series of incidents that Vietnam has blamed on China, including Chinese fishing vessels allegedly intentionally cutting the cables of a Vietnamese oil and gas exploration vessel operating in the region.
Speaking last week, Hong denied the Chinese vessels were at fault, saying: ‘China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the adjacent waters. Chinese fishing boats have been operating in the waters off Vanguard Bank for generations.’
This does of course have a familiar ring – Chinese fishing boats were excused what was clearly an attempt at ramming Japan Coast Guard vessels last year as China claimed the waters around the Senkaku (Diaoyu in China) islands are not disputed, but Chinese territory.
The spat with Japan turned ugly, as China quickly ratcheted up the rhetoric against Japan, which briefly detained the captain of the Chinese fishing vessel involved. It also appeared to halt shipments of rare earth metals crucial to high-tech Japanese industry, claiming implausibly that Chinese suppliers all spontaneously decided to halt shipments.
International opinion seemed broadly with Japan on the issue in the face of what many saw as a Chinese overreaction. With this in mind, and conscious of the fact that Vietnam might well garner sympathy as the military underdog, China appears to be treading a little more carefully.
Vietnam has for its part announced details of a military draft to take effect from August 1. The decree, announced by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, outlines who would be exempt from any call-up, in what has been interpreted as a message for a domestic audience that Vietnam will stand up for its rights against an aggressive China.
Minxin Pei wrote an interesting piece for us on the issue earlier this week, calling on China to seize the moral high ground and suspend its patrol activities in the disputed areas to avoid any possible accidental conflict.
So far, though, both sides are digging their heels in.
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Grant
I’m convinced now, China really is trying to make the U.S look better in comparison. Either that or their leaders are so worried about internal dissent they are taking the second worst choice possible*.
*The worst of all obviously being a naval clash
John Chan
@Grant, stop pretending innocent, USA is the culprit of all these hostility. USA can try to reverse the trend, but it is not going to stop USA’s decline. It’s not because China wants to undermine USA, it is because USA is incapable to correct itself, USA’s decline is its own making. You better ask yourself what have you done for your nation to stop the decline other than bad mouthing China.
Go and look in the history, empires do not die gradually; they simply fall over the cliff. People predicted USA only has 10 years left in its glory if it keeps on its spending thirst.
No tyrant leave the stage by itself, nor the new comer can get on the stage without hard work; China knows the meaning of “there is no free lunch,” it is just the US does not know when to get out of kitchen.
Vietnam may be just one of the brownie points that China has to earn in order to be recognized as a legitimate contender, the world is watching whether China has the right stuff.
Frank
China never “looked” good to the west and their India service providers (servants) anyway.
Communist Vietnam is not looking good either.
Regardless what China does, the west will never approve anyway. So, why not do something good for its citizen.
Samak
PRC needs to get out of the Southeast Asia Sea, Sino-imperialism is just a resumption of a thousand years trend
John Chan
@Samak, shame on you, commits perjury on the internet.
saurabh kumar
no one is going to help vietnam ,but what ever china is doing with vietnam is wrong and one day china will be payable for that
Frank
What India did to Muslims in Kirshimier is wrong.
One day, India will pay for it.
Mohammad Irshad
Similarly no one will forget the killings of Tibetans and Turkestanis by the Communist Chinese!
China will have to pay one day.
Aashish
Don’t forget its territorial row to the South-West with India, where it has encroached upon thousands of kilometers of Himalayan wasteland over the last few years. India, Japan, Vietnam and Russia need to sign onto a mutual protection pact with each other if China’s colonial expansion has to be stopped.
Frank
Vietnamese killed all of the Indians in South Vietnam.
Indians used to live in Vietnam south of city of Hue.
China and Russia are SCO alliance right now.
John Chan
The warning given by Hong Lei proved that China is a responsible stakeholder of the safety of all commercial activities in South China Sea. China treats the unpredictable volatile Vietnam with highest concern. China warns anybody to behave with care while China tries to contain a highly agitated Vietnam; because they may get hurt is they don’t watch their steps.
China is disposing a highly dangerous explosive Vietnam as an IPD, if anyone still gets close to the danger site after the warning, then don’t blame China if they get hurt by ignoring the warning.
Leonard R.
China tries to contain Vietnam?
That is funny.
Oro Invictus
You know, while all countries are guilty of overextending their claims, I find China’s vehement and utterly childish “declarations of sovereignty” to be particularly noteworthy and, dare I say, ironic. Why? If you take a look at Chinese history, you’ll see that this exact type of bickering over surrounding areas has been a hallmark of said region; while the rest of the world has also engaged in this through the various epochs, the sheer chaos that marked the Chinese states’ territorial claims rendered any attempt to define a static border or such a fool’s errand. This is not so much due to any preexisting cultural pathos as it is due to the geography of the region, where indefensible low-lands and shifting areas of agricultural fertility resulted in constant battles for territory. Over time, this inevitably lead to the coalescing of the various states in the region into the various dynasties; the centralized authority and more effective trade routes allowed for a decrease in internecine conflict.
The issue, though, is that these dynasties then turned their attention to their neighbouring regions, becoming a macrocosm of the earlier periods of independent states; the same principles that once governed the constituents now governed the whole, despite its inapplicability to the new situation. As such, it is little surprise what befell each dynasty soon thereafter: Dissolution and/or rebellion. Indeed, the irony of China’s current actions I mentioned earlier is that whenever China has made these far-flung claims of sovereignty in the past to strengthen their position, it has inevitably been followed by isolation/retaliation by neighbouring states and self-destruction of said dynasty; the Qin, the Han, the Qing, the Ming, the Song, and the Jin dynasties are perfect examples of this.
While it can, quite fairly, be argued that this territorial overreaching was not necessarily the primary cause of these various dynasties failures, the fact that this same chain of events preceded each one’s downfall shows that these sovereignty claims, even if not being a major contributor to said entities’ decline, acts as an indicator of instability. This is not to say China has always been without right to the land it has claimed, but the current situation with the South China Sea not only illustrates a lack of credibility in the PRC’s current claims, but a woeful ignorance of the various chains of events that led to the downfall of so many before them.
Oro Invictus
Ah, I intended my previous comment to be stand-alone, not as a reply; apologies for the error.
John Chan
For a minute I thought this new screen name Oro Invictus has something meaningful to say, what a disappointment, it is from the same clique as Leonard R, Nick, etc. yelling one sided anti-China slogan that only pour oil on fire instead of putting out cool head commentary.
Oro Invictus
@ John Chan
While I realize the futility of arguing with you (though, the eternal optimist in me hopes you will see some measure of reason), I would like to ask a simple question:
How am I yelling or the like? I was simply pointing out a historical trend which I found rather interesting; indeed, the expansionist policies of said dynasties prior to their end are well-documented through primary and secondary sources. If you disagree with my interpretation of said trend as an indicator of instability, that is one thing, but it seems you would rather childishly denigrate my character through nonsensical “anti-China” monikers. Indeed, you would do well to remember there is no more self-condemning an action then blindly flailing at anyone you disagree with, rather then engaging them.
@ Yang Zi
There is nothing more ridiculous then someone who, incapable or unwilling to contribute constructively to a dialogue, declares others “ridiculous”.
yang zi
Oro, you are interesting yet ridiculous
Greg
Question, Why does China want all SE Asian countries to join in with them on issues such as economic trading, BUT only wants to talk about the sea area one on one? Also, just look at the area China claims. You have to be kidding! The state that they travelled these seas many centuries ago, so, the other countries involved DID TOO. They fished and travelled thoses seas long before China did. It stand to reason that a sea area close to one’s shore would have been fished and trips taken over. China claims extend far over other countries continetal shelf. China, respect the UN sea charter on areas that are claimed by countries. The warning by Hong Lei, just shows how China really is using its clout as a bully, in much the same way they threatened the world not to attend the Norway ceremony. Hey, China, how about trying to REIN in all your Local Government officals who CARE NOTHING about the common man, only their own CPC pockets!
yang zi
the dotted line has been on the map for 70 years. China’s claim is based on ancestry heritage, when Vietnam is part of China, these islands of course is too. China did not give these islands to Vietnam when it was independent.
Anyway, China must stand firm on this, no matter what others say.
Nguyen
Hey yang zi, john chang, nancy cheung
The Far East was also China land for many years then your great great grandfathers lost to the Russian during 1850-1905 period. Why don’t your brave people trying to claim that back from Russia? That was more than 1.3 million square kilometers, isn’t it? I though one of Confucius teaching is to teach you guys to bully when your opponent is weaker and to bow your head down when China opponent is stronger.
Annie
Chinese government is lying everyone! They just told Chinese what they want their people to believe. Did your government tell you about UN law of the sea? I believe that they never tell you anything. All SE Asian countries want peace. We never claim for anything what dont belong to us! Chinese has invading willing in their blood! Let think and read international newspaper to see what are people around the world are talking about China. If China is right, why nobody support and agree with China’s action. Many anti-China forums and pages were created on the internet. Did Chinese know this. I think you dont because your government block and dont allow international internet community pages like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube,… in China. How do you think about that? If your government is transparency and truth, why they are afraid international internet pages? Are they afraid that Chinese people may find down they are lying?
Nancy Cheung
As usual, what ever the Chinese said must be wrong. Whoever against China must be a hero. Should you still want to pretend you have a little bit of professionalism in your blood, please check out the facts before you write.
http://www.southchinasea.org/docs/International Recognition Of China Sovereignty over the Na.htm
John
Hi John Chan.
I read the following:
“The warning given by Hong Lei proved that China is a responsible stakeholder of the safety of all commercial activities in South China Sea. China treats the unpredictable volatile Vietnam with highest concern. China warns anybody to behave with care while China tries to contain a highly agitated Vietnam; because they may get hurt is they don’t watch their steps.
China is disposing a highly dangerous explosive Vietnam as an IPD, if anyone still gets close to the danger site after the warning, then don’t blame China if they get hurt by ignoring the warning.”
Until now I saw you as a western Chinese individual who was supporting China even if it hurt, but the statement you made raises some questions.
I mean that in while I can understand China attacking South Vietnam on the behalf of the North and taking the paracells I am not sure how you can now support China attacking your previous allies and threaten violence against them for supporting thier rights in the region.
It does seem a lose lose situation. I mean, Japan took territory from the Russians, Koreans, Manchurians, etc and thought it was ok. Though when they really stepped up, those territories were used as reasons to truly support action against the Japanese.
Thus even if China defeats Vietnam in this recent incident, it tells the rest of the region why they are a true threat to stability and not just a potential threat.
I accept you are an intelligent person who is nationalistic, but nationalism does hurt in the long term. Just ask any descendant of those who practiced it in the past.
John Chan
@John,
1. Your understanding of Asian politics is wrong. China helped NVietnam and NKorea to expel American Imperialism for its own survival. Both SVietnam and SKorea were Imperial USA’s lapdogs, so is Taiwan.
2. Thanks to the European nationalism, geopolitics and Realpolitik trump ideology. Right after defeating the imperialist US, national interests took precedent, both NV and NK turned against China real quick. That also can explain why USA and China can get together against USSR when USSR was the threat to China instead of USA.
3. NK only turned to China because it was abandoned by Russia after the collapse of USSR. Without the US backing, NV would just like NK.
4. If Canada, Mexico and other nations in America were on par with the US, USA would have same messy territory disputes as in Asia. China is getting stronger by the day, and tries to defend its territory. All other nations in Asia are fighting from giving back their ill gains with the backing of the US for its hideous intent of crippling next competitor in sight.
5. If China put its foot down, I guarantee you all ASENA nations will be grateful for China’s effort deep in their hearts for putting the bellicose Vietnam under the control, because they no long need to fight each other anymore while pretending they like each other.
6. If China take a firm action, the world order can be re-establish with clarity, instead of everybody is expecting beyond their capabilities and resulting non-stop bickering.
7. Asia is Asian business, they have long history of entanglements, and they solve issues in Asian ways, but USA is exploiting the entanglements to take full advantage.
Frank
As long as Vietnam is a communist state, nobody in the free world will sell Communist Vietnam weapons.
John Chan
Frank, do you remember the bombing of Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia? USA claimed it was an accident. Any shipment of weapons to Vietnam will meet the same accident as the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, get bombed or knocked out of air. China would investigate, publish reports and investigate further more, then call for new rules to keep South China Sea peace. Well you know the gist, there are plenty precedents established by the West that China can use to dodge the responsibilities.
duke chan
John Chan:
I just wanted to make a few points here:
1- You always defense China regardless the facts. You may been brained washed or just refuse to face the truth. East Sea does not belong to China as she claims.
2-You always inflate the power of China. Looks, 80% of China people are poor. Most weapons are Russian made, or copied from Soviet era. Stealth fighter? anybody really sees it? Nope. Carrier, yes! but it will be a good shooting target for training by US fleet.
3- Did you know why China acting weird this day, because China is facing too much inner pressure, from Inner Mongolia, to Chinese people uprising due to corruptions…. China wants to diverse the tension to East sea to release its inner pressure. It is a calculated move, the government rather be seen as an aggressor than they loose power or killed by their own people.
4-Yes, you are right on one thing, The USA is playing game with China right now and that is why 30,000 Chinese workers had to flee Lybia, more Chinese workers will be fled from Africa SOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
John Chan
@duke chan, only Indian use such underhanded trick, use a surrogated Chinese screen name to smear China. ROC and PRC have the same position regarding South China Sea. No Chinese will ever say anything like you said here.
david
I admire u for the entertainment value ur blog has generated. I do agree with u on certain points u made, that china has overplayed its cards in this dipute which will inevitably send chill down the spine of its smaller neighbours. But same can also be said about vietnam whose sheer desperation was on full display when they raised the stake by calling for mandatory conscription in the event of war. In this escalation of aggressive posturing over on going crisis, i think only philipine has handled the issue with calm and maturity ( probably, because they are the weakest one of all claimants). Then, here is where our perceptions diverge. I am critical of the role us and its military played in pushing the crisis to a boiling point. Us is in no position to lecture anyone to abide by international law, and i am seething at its brazen violation of un charter by unilaterally declaring a war on iraq, a sovereign nation. Whats more ourageous is their explicit support of one claimant against another in a dispute that it does not concern us ( i dont buy those ” open access to south china sea by international community” bs). What did usa expect china’ response would be- 1. Back down on their legitimate ( or,illegitimate) claim in the face of overwhelming us military might, 2. Courting us for their support by making compromise on other international issues 3. Intensify their own rehtorics and prepare for war. only usa benifits most from all possible senarios, not asean nations or china. I think that is what it means by” problem in asia needs to solved by asians. Please usa, just leave this issue to chinese, vietnamese or other asean countries and it is already complicated enough without ur involvement as it is. And to Ms clinton, with due respect, those days when ur promiscuous husband dispatched two aircraft carriers as show of force enough to scare off chinks, are gone. Ur energy can be better utilised to convince obama that the first priority for us now is to save sinking economy not manipulating asian sacrophans.
Sam
Well said, Duke Chan!
M. Alaya
The ‘Asian business is Asian’ slogan is China’s way of making sure that it can intimidate and bully smaller countries into submission with its sheer size.
Don’t argue with John Chan the CCP lapdog. It will get you nowhere. He is allergic to criticism and spews the same kind of propaganda trash that no one outside China believes.
Let him play out the fantasy that he has a cool head and that he is doing a good job of representing China. Come of think of it, he does. The belligerent and arrogant ass who think he is actually playing nice. The emperor with no clothes.
Go ahead John Chan, expose to the world what you really are about. Make more enemies for China. I promise you, one of this days, it will bite you in the ass.
Cora
Go Frank Go! You are the hero!I support you!