Official Chinese media have been conspicuously silent about a July 9th clash between the Chinese navy and Vietnamese fishing boats near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The Singapore newspaper the Straits Times reported on July 19th.
From the BBC.
According to Pham Gia Khiem, the Vietnamese deputy prime minister and foreign minister, the details of the incident are being investigated. Despite official silence, the news about the shooting has been circulating in Chinese cyberspace, where there have been lively discussions about the latest clash near the Spratlys, the site of a bloody 1988 naval battle between the two countries. Internet bulletin board comments have ranged from smugness over how China “fixed” Vietnam, to calls for stronger military action against “the little apprentice.” Earlier this year, in April, 41 Vietnamese fishermen were captured by Chinese naval ships in the waters near the Spratlys. They were released after fines were paid to the Chinese government. Tensions in the area have been running high since March, when Hanoi announced a $2 billion natural-gas project near the Spratlys involving British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, and Petrovietnam. Beijing stated at the time that Vietnam’s action “infringed on China’s sovereignty, sovereignty rights and administrative rights.” Chinese media and China’s online community were in agreement that the proposed natural-gas project was a challenge to Chinese sovereignty–a conspiracy by Vietnam to steal energy from China. An April 22nd article on the Chinese navy’s website accused Vietnam of “trying to follow Ukraine’s example” as it “gains Western support and assistance by taking advantage of Western hostility towards China.” Other Internet postings recalled old grievances over previous Vietnamese “provocations,” including the 2004 Spratly tours organized by Vietnamese tourism officials, the renovation by Vietnam of an old airport on the Spratlys, and the participation of soldiers stationed on islands in Vietnam’s 2002 National Assembly elections. The earlier wave of belligerence in Chinese cyberspace subsided–though did not dissipate completely–with the June announcement that British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, and Petrovietnam are to halt the US$2 billion project. As the economies of China and Vietnam continue to grow at breakneck speed, their search for resources to meet escalating domestic energy needs has given unresolved territorial disputes in the South China Sea an added strategic complexity. The fact that official Chinese media have been mum about the July 9th shooting suggests that Beijing may wish to prevent the incident from deteriorating into a threat to regional stability. But with energy security a main objective of China’s current foreign policy, it’s anyone’s guess when the next flare-up will be.
