China bristles at pushback from Vietnam, Philippines in disputed waters
Vietnam disputes China's right to drill for oil in waters that lie within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. The Philippines has detained Chinese fishermen accused of collecting protected turtles.
Vietnam disputes China's right to drill for oil in waters that lie within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. The Philippines has detained Chinese fishermen accused of collecting protected turtles.
Tension flared Wednesday between China and two of its neighbors in the waters of the disputed South China Sea.
In the eastern part of the sea, China demanded that the Philippines release a Chinese fishing boat and its crew that it seized on Tuesday off the Spratly Islands.
Further west, dozens of patrol boats and naval and coast guard vessels from China and Vietnam gathered around the site of a Chinese oil rig that was moved this weekend into waters that Hanoi claims as its territory, Reuters reports.
Both incidents underscore the fragility in the region as China asserts its claims to wide swaths of the South China Sea, while its smaller neighbors, who also claim islands in the same waters, push back.
Although there are frequent flare-ups between fishermen from the region's littoral countries, the 鈥渁ctual detention of Chinese fishermen or the seizure of a boat is rare,鈥� writes Reuters.聽
The Chinese fishing boat and its 11-person crew was seized at 7 a.m. Tuesday by a maritime police patrol, according to Chief Superintendent Noel Vargas of the Philippine National Police Maritime Group.
The Philippines is a US military ally: When President Obama visited last week,聽the two countries agreed to boost their military cooperation going forward, a move widely seen as a response to China's growing assertiveness.聽
The boat was carrying about 350 turtles, some of which are protected under Philippine law, and was seized at the same time as a Philippine boat and crew with 70 turtles on board, Mr. Vargas said. Both boats are being taken to the Philippine island of Palawan, where charges will be filed against them.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the Philippines must 鈥渋mmediately鈥� release the detained fisherman and 鈥渢ake no more provocative action,鈥� according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Xinhua described the seizure of the ship as one where 鈥渟everal armed men forced themselves onto the boat and fired four or five shots in the air.鈥澛�
In Vietnam, boats from the two neighboring powers聽faced off near the site of a Chinese oil rig Wednesday, as Hanoi attempted to prevent China from placing its rig in an area of water claimed by both countries, the Associated Press reports.聽
No shots have been fired, a Vietnamese government official told the AP. Two foreign diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Vietnam had sent up to 29 armed naval and coast guard boats to the area as a 鈥渟how of force鈥� to urge Beijing to withdraw the rig.聽
Beijing moved the deep-sea oil rig, owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), a state-owned company, to a location close to the Paracel Islands on May 2. The oil rig was escorted by a 鈥渓arge flotilla of naval vessels,鈥� according to the AP; Beijing 鈥渁nnounced that no foreign ships would be allowed within a 3-mile radius of the $1 billion rig.鈥澛�
The oil rig鈥檚 location is 120 nautical miles off of Vietnam鈥檚 coast and within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone that Vietnam claims under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.聽
鈥淰ietnam will take all the proper and necessary measure to protect its legitimate rights and interests,鈥� Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said Wednesday, according to the Vietnam's Than Nien newspaper. Vietnam calls the Chinese move illegal and a violation of Vietnamese sovereignty. It has sought diplomatic talks with China to resolve the situation.
An unnamed Chinese oil industry official told Reuters that the decision to move the rig looked like a political rather than a commercial decision:
The US State Department weighed in on the tensions on Tuesday. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki called China鈥檚 鈥渄ecision to operate its oil rig in disputed waters [...] provocative and unhelpful to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.鈥澛�
Vietnam and China have clashed seriously in the South China Sea at least three other times in the past 40 years, AP notes:
And the Philippines in particular has taken a strong stand against Chinese territorial claims. In March, Manila lodged a legal case with the United Nations that challenges Beijing鈥檚 claims in the South China Sea, as 海角大神 reported:聽