Amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea involving China, Vietnam and the Philippines, India has voiced concern and underlined the need for maintaining freedom of navigation in the disputed waters which are claimed by Beijing and five Southeast Asian countries.
India’s sharp reaction came a couple of days after the naval ships of China and Vietnam collided in the strategic resource-rich South China Sea after a Chinese state-owned company parked an ultra-modern rig in the Paracel Islands, a disputed area which is claimed by both countries.
Vietnam has strongly protested against perceived Chinese aggressive posturing in South China Sea as Vietnamese officials claimed several Chinese ships intentionally rammed their vessels and used water cannons at the country’s naval men.
Dubbing the Chinese move as “illegal”, Vietnam has demanded the rig be withdrawn, and dispatched vessels to the area. In Hanoi, Ngo Ngoc Thu, deputy commander of Vietnam’s maritime police, said that Chinese boats had collided with Vietnamese vessels in at least three separate incidents in the last week. He also claimed that the Chinese “actively used water cannon to attack Vietnamese law enforcement vessels.” “The situation was very tense,” he was reported as saying. Six Vietnamese fisheries surveillance staff were injured due to broken glass, he claimed.
Global Concern
The latest spat in the contested territory and the Chinese decision to install a deep-water oil rig have evoked international concern at what is seen as the new Chinese leadership’s vigorous assertion over what it calls core sovereignty areas.
India, which has scaled up its multi-faceted ties with Vietnam and the ASEAN countries, has been quick to reiterate the imperative need for the freedom of navigation in South China Sea and the resolution of the issue through the UN Law of the Seas. “We have been following with concern recent developments in the South China Sea. We believe that maintenance of peace, stability, growth and prosperity in the region is of vital interest to the international community,” Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, said in New Delhi.
New Delhi underscored that it would like to see the “resolution of the issue through peaceful means in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law.” “In this context, we also maintain that freedom of navigation in the South China Sea should not be impeded and call for cooperation in ensuring security of sea-lanes and strengthening of maritime security,” said the spokesperson.
Tough talk in Hanoi
There was outrage and tough talk in Vietnam over what commentators in the state-owned media decried as Chinese aggression. “Vietnam will hit back if Chinese vessels continue ramming Vietnamese ships,” Tuoi Tre, a leading Vietnamese newspaper, said.
China has sought to play down the incident, with Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping voicing confidence that the two countries should be able to resolve it through negotiations.
Last week, China had announced that it had placed a massive oil rig run by the state-run CNOOC near the Paracel Islands, 220 kilometers from Vietnam’s shores, an area Hanoi claims as its exclusive economic zone. China has asserted the operation is clearly within its territorial waters and stressed that it has been pursuing its legitimate interests in the region.
US against unilateral actions
Washington has been prompt to voice its unease and dubbed China’s decision to send the oil rig into the disputed waters as “provocative.” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel made a quick trip to Hanoi and urged both sides to “refrain from unilateral actions.” He reminded them the global economy is “too fragile to brook the possibility of a crisis that could escalate into conflict.”
“Every country has the right to advocate for its position and for its claims to territorial sovereignty. However, the consistent position of the U.S. is that advocacy must be diplomatic and the means for advancing one’s claims must be consistent with international law, including the U.N. convention on the law of the sea,” Russel said. He underlined that the onus is on China to define its claims in a manner that’s consistent with the convention.
What’s the message?
Analysts have pointed out that $1 billion oil rig, which can operate in 3000 metres of water, is part of China’s well though-out strategy to mine the rich resources of the disputed water body. There is apparently a geopolitical message here from Beijing. The fact that China deployed the rig shortly after US President Barack Obama’s Asia tour “underlines Beijing’s commitment to test the resolve of Vietnam, its [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] neighbors and Washington,” say Ernest Bower and Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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