Chinese Boat Attacks, Sinks Fishing Vessel, Vietnam Says

Well...THIS wasn't helpful to the state of relations in that area of water, to be sure!

A Chinese vessel attacked and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat, the Vietnam government said, raising tensions over a territorial dispute that saw clashes between the countries’ coast guard ships earlier this month.

“It sank,” ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said of the Vietnamese vessel. “It was rammed by a Chinese boat.”

Japan had it's own feelings on the matter...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped to boost maritime aid to Vietnam. Beijing’s “unilateral drilling activities” have raised tensions in the area, Abe told the Wall Street Journal in an interview May 23.

Japan is separately embroiled in a territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. Its Defense Ministry said May 24 that Chinese SU-27 fighter jets flew unusually close to two of its military planes that day.

Source

There is quite a bit more in the story and covers the issue of the drilling rig referred to by the Japanese Prime Minister. It's near where this happened with the Vietnamese fishing boat.

Looks like another notch up in tension. I hadn't realized Japan was sending maritime aid to Vietnam but this does seem to be an area with a lot developing lately, too.

a reply to: Wrabbit2000

China launched Su-27s after a Japanese P-3 the other day. This is very much a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. None of the nations in that area can take on China alone, but they all hate each other.

a reply to: Wrabbit2000

Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, and India should sign a maritime alliance.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Wrabbit2000



China launched Su-27s after a Japanese P-3 the other day. This is very much a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. None of the nations in that area can take on China alone, but they all hate each other.

My wife is Filipina, and when I mentioned India joining an alliance she hated the idea. Japanese and S. Korea seem to have good relations with PI though.

The article mentions the "nine-dashed line" for territorial claim, so I went to look up what that was.... Oh.. WOW...

I don't know why, but I hadn't quite seen it this way before. I mean..THAT far south? It's nice China left Vietnam any waters at all, and I can see why they aren't happy now.


(China’s nine-dashed line in South China Sea)

There it is, for anyone else who hadn't seen a map drawn quite that way for showing the lines and areas involved.

That is quite a claim.

Maybe more too this,
www.abovetopsecret.com...

than meets the eyepiece of a sub.

hmmmm

www.wantchinatimes.com...

While the riots have been suppressed, tensions between the two countries remain high as China has refused to budge over the Haiyang 981 oil rig. Recent reports claim that a large number of People's Liberation Army troops have been deployed to the border at Pingxiang in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, where the brief 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War first broke out, after anti-China protests forced Beijing to evacuate Chinese nationals.

As of May 20, China still had 90 vessels guarding the oil rig, with reports that the Chinese coast guard drove away at least two Vietnamese maritime security vessels away from the region.

Chinese defense minister Chang Wanquan has warned Vietnam not to make repeated mistakes and to look at the bigger picture of Sino-Vietnamese friendship. During a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh last week, Chang condemned Vietnam's recent disruption of China's "routine" and "legitimate" oil drilling and called on Hanoi to "respect history" and "face reality."

www.wantchinatimes.com...

China will be the most powerful nation in the Asia Pacific over the next decade notwithstanding America's "Asia Pacific rebalancing strategy," according to a survey of regional experts.

The study, conducted jointly by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, surveyed 150 experts from 11 Asia-Pacific countries.

Despite former US defense secretary Leon Panetta declaring in 2012 that the US will deploy 60% of its warships to the Asia Pacific region as part of a rebalancing strategy, 53% of participants in the survey said China will be the region's most influential nation over the next 10 years, compared to just 28% for the US

a reply to: Wrabbit2000

China has made it clear that pretty much everything in the region that has resources is theirs, and they're going to take it if they have to.

a reply to: Wrabbit2000

I have posted that map several times and had the anti US crowd defend it.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Wrabbit2000

China has made it clear that pretty much everything in the region that has resources is theirs, and they're going to take it if they have to.

Do you know the reason for their claim?
I will look up in English what In was taught in school and post it for you.
YES, OK, here you go.

China demarcates its claims within the nine-dotted line, which first appeared in "South Sea Islands Location Map” released by the Chinese government in February 1948.

Ancient Chinese mariners discovered the Nansha Islands as early as the second century BC. With the development of the maritime industry, the Nansha Islands started to attract attention. China renamed the South China Sea islands "Changsha" during the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279).

Yes, that's a long time ago and they continued to populate the islands.

The Chinese people were the first to develop and manage the Nansha Islands. The Odds Contents of the 1st century BC and the Guangzhou Records by the Jin-dynasty Pei Yuan recorded Chinese fishermen's activities in the South China Sea. In the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), more Hainan Island fishermen made their way to the Nansha Islands for fishing, and fixed shipping operation lanes took shape. At this time, the fisherman reclaimed the land and planted trees.

Not only that, but the foreigners that attempted to take control of the islands, did not receive a Warm Welcome and Left after meeting Resistance From The Local Chinese Fishermen / Villagers.

In the 19th century, foreign navigators, based on the existing facts, admitted that the Chinese had originally developed and managed the Nansha Islands. "Hainan fishermen, dotted on every island, live on sea cucumbers and shellfishes. Some of them also inhabit the islands," noted the British Navy's China Sea Guide.

Two Qing-dynasty maps, one dating from 1716 and the other 1817, also include the Nansha Islands, calling them "Wanli #ang". In 1883, Germany stopped its investigation activities on the Nansha Islands in the face of protests from the Qing government. In 1933, the French occupation of the Nansha Islands met with resistance from Chinese fishermen, after which the Chinese government made firm its claim to the territory, which resulted in France's eventual retreat. In 1946, the Chinese government, according to the "Cairo Declaration" and "Potsdam Proclamation," regained its sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and reefs and re-erected a monument of sovereignty on the main island.

So it would appear the Chinese had had control of these islands for some time now, any one disagree?
South China Sea

a reply to: guohua

No, China has a past claim to them. They are in territorial waters/EEZs of other nations now. Previous claims don't give then the right to claim them now.

Or are you saying that gives European nations the right to previous territory they owned?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Or are you saying that gives European nations the right to previous territory they owned?

Oh.. That would be fun. Like a big game of RiSK with drunken enraged players and loaded guns on the table. We could sell tickets if we were off-world or something to watch it from.

a reply to: guohua

Well, if we are looking at ancient claims that have not been exercised, I think Tibet, Mongolia, Turkestan and a few other places need to be released.

If you do not respect ancient claims, then China has no claim here. Or you are a hypocrite.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Previous claims don't give then the right to claim them now.

Same could be said of "New" Mexico for that matter.

China is the second largest economy in the world and growing. Of course they won't be allowed to lay claim to anything that used to be theres.

Says who? USA world police to the rescue…

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: guohua

Well, if we are looking at ancient claims that have not been exercised, I think Tibet, Mongolia, Turkestan and a few other places need to be released.

If you do not respect ancient claims, then China has no claim here. Or you are a hypocrite.

I Do Not Appreciate Being Called A Hypocrite.
That is One Thing I Am Not!
I was only explaining what I was taught in school growing up and what you need to understand about the Asian Mind Way of Thinking of Ownership.
Much, Much different than the West!

a reply to: intrptr

Well hell, in that case give Africa, India, Vietnam, and the eastern seaboard of the US back to Europe. If China can claim territory based on post ownership then so can everyone else.

This has nothing to do with the US, this has to do with international law. Although why let that stop people from blaming the US, right?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: guohua

No, China has a past claim to them. They are in territorial waters/EEZs of other nations now. Previous claims don't give then the right to claim them now.

Or are you saying that gives European nations the right to previous territory they owned?

As I told you, I was only going to instruct you on what I and every other Chinese Citizen has been taught in school.
You really believe China cares about the claim of Territorial Waters after all these years?
Trust me, They Don't.
At lest you didn't call me a Hypocrite for pointing out what was and is being taught and the Chinese mind set.

it is time to SMOKE China. watch them cower when Vietnam, PI, Japan, SK and the Anglo War Machine (US,UK,AUS) revs up.

We cancel all their debt, seize all the things in our countries they think they own, starve them off from our mines, steel, and other rez, and lets see them crumble. And take all their miners in Afghanistan as POW's.

We owe it to Vietnam to come to their aid after what we did there. Kind of like setting Karma back in order. How in the world can China think they can own all that water region?

I was anti war with China/Russia. But have now changed sentiment. Better to rid the world of China now then wait for them to peacock around in 10 years from now.

a reply to: guohua

I understand their thinking on it. I've been watching this situation for a long time now. But the fact that they believe it doesn't make it right, or give them any more right to claim it than the US, or other nation that doesn't have territory there.