Three days after the US Department of State issued an announcement to express its concern about the Chinese sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the Hoang Sa (Paracels), on April 9, the US Department of Defense expressed deeply concerned about the incident.
In a statement posted on its official website, the US Department of Defense said it was particularly concerned about the information that Chinese maritime vessels collided and sunk Vietnamese fishing vessels in the Hoang Sa region in the East Sea (South China Sea).
The announcement stated: “China’s behavior is contrary to the US vision of an open and free Indo-Pacific region, in which all countries, big or small, all guaranteed their sovereignty, not forced, and able to pursue economic development in accordance with recognized international rules and practices .”
According to the statement, “the United States will continue to support the efforts of allies and partners to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity in the entire Indo-Pacific region.”
The press emphasized: “The Covid-19 pandemic emphasizes the importance of a rule-based international order, because it facilitates us to address this common threat in a transparent, focused and effective way.”
The US Department of Defense “calls on all parties to refrain from actions that may destabilize the region, neglect global efforts to cope with pandemics, or create unnecessary risks that lead to loss of people and property .”
Observers rated this as a heavy US declaration to the fact that Chinese maritime vessels sunk a Vietnamese fishing vessel carrying eight fishermen last week.
A regional political and security analyst and observer said: “I understand that the US Department of Defense statement is stronger than the US State Department statement.”
“President Donald Trump has delegated the full authority to Secretary Mark Esper to behave in Asia-Pacific as well as the Indian Ocean.”
Associate Professor Pham Quy Tho also said: “The US government, the State Department and the Department of Defense, have expressed their strong and decisive anti-China attitude, expressing the policy’s point of view in the East Sea and will pursue execution under any circumstances.”
“The consistency between the words and the actions of the US government will increase the confidence of the countries affected by China’s encroachment and threats; and increase the reputation of the US government in the context of the US and Europe facing a lot of difficulties due to the double and heavy impacts on pandemic and economic recession. ”
China’s unruly violations of sovereignty in the context of the whole world struggling to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak. China is likely to continue to harass other claimants in the East Sea.
In the BBC’s Commentary & Analysis program on April 9 on the East Sea and Vietnam-China relations, both guests were Dr. Tran Cong Truc, former head of the Vietnam Government Border Committee and Associate Professor Hoang Ngoc Giao, director of the Institute of Policy, Law and Development Studies, under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (Vusta) said that the East Sea will continue to have complex developments in the future.
Dr. Tran Cong Truc commented: “Because China, in the process of coming to Vietnam, they often take advantage of the conditions of security, politics, regional and international defense, so that they can carry out the conspiracy. and their present is also one of the opportunities for China to do so.‘
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“But I think at the moment they cannot do it very hard, because the whole of humanity is focusing on this story, cannot ignore it, because China’s foreign policy is taking advantage of this pandemic to They paint their pictures. ”
“But after this pandemic, I think that when the world is struggling with its economy, which has declined after Covid-19, China can take stronger steps to support its illegal claims of the East Sea. Their will, their motives, their strategy to monopolize the sea and they want to adopt this to rise up and compete for the status of an international superpower.”
Asso. Prof. Giao predicts that “China will likely be more aggressive in the East Sea.“
He said: “Putting the rig, bringing research ships to the Truong Sa (Spratlys), bringing more maritime militia down to the Spratlys and does not rule out the possibility that China will use the sea militia to block off rocks and islands that Vietnam’s soldiers are stationed there.”
Dr. Nghiem Thuy Hang, a Chinese researcher at Hanoi National University, agrees. “I think the situation will get worse and worse,” she said. “China will take more aggressive actions …”
Before the above developments, the world has more grounds to be wary of China.
A source said next week it is expected that a four-nation group meeting including the US, Japan, India and Australia, known as the Quad, may have security talks. regional and information exchange between stakeholders.
Researchers do not want to reveal their identities, raise opinions from a regional strategic research institute:
“They decided not to invite Beijing to the audience. Beijing, with the pandemic from Wuhan, seems to have formed the view of the West, first of all the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan that Beijing is an enemy, not a “strategic competitor.” “of America.”
“So they don’t invite China and the Quad is assuming that Beijing can attack Taiwan and Changsha.”
Asso. Prof. Giao also said that “the Taiwanese government is now very wary of China, likewise Japan and the US are also very wary of China.”
Therefore, Vietnam, the country with legitimate interests in the East Sea, must always be on its guard and not negligent.
Asso. Prof. Pham Quy Tho commented that: “The Vietnamese government has also made moves, in my opinion, to be positive, and should prepare a higher legal solution, suing the Chinese government to the International Court, as was the case when the Philippines recently won against China.”
He suggested: “In addition, in my opinion, Vietnam should take advantage of its position in the United Nations Security Council and the President of the ASEAN Association to express their opinions and enlist the support of countries in the region on the actions to protect the legitimate interests of the country and within ASEAN.”
Giao said that Vietnam is doing a good job against the Covid-19 pandemic, but it should not neglect the situation of the sea and islands in the East Sea.
He said: On the one hand, the Vietnamese government is currently doing a very good story against Coronavirus, so it cannot be ignored or cannot be neglected in the story of preparing the worst situations before greedy and arguably China’s actions in the East Sea, especially in Truong Sa.
China’s work not only violates international law but also goes against the good values of humanity. One praiseworthy signal appearing in the heart of China is that the progressive Chinese people are and will have certain voices before the wrongdoings of the ruling communist government.
Dr. Nghiem Thuy Hang stated: “However, what is important is that what China is building, that is, the tactics and tactics built on deception or on coercion or use by force, that goes against civilization or a culture of progressive human progress, or even goes against the tradition of the progressive people in China and I don’t think the Chinese people will support.”
“That is, if you do things unethical, then China will be very discredited and not receive support even within the country, among its people.”
“There are currently such trends in China, meaning that people are not quiet anymore and they demand justice. ”
“They also disagree with the imposition, or the political stories that suppress the voices of science or the voices of scholars or patriots. ”
“Currently many Chinese people are tending to re-talk and follow trends I think are very progressive.”
Recent actions such as reclamation of submerged islands, observation posts, militarization, and especially the fact that China intentionally plunged and sunk Vietnamese fishing vessels in the East Sea on April 2 were impossible and deserved to be condemned.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with the representative of the Chinese Embassy and presented a protest note, asking the Chinese side to clarify and strictly punish Chinese civil service personnel and ships, not to re perform similar actions, and at the same time compensate for damages to Vietnamese fishermen.
The US Department of State and, recently, the US Department of Defense have spoken out against China’s serious violations.
Is the full statement of the US government and the consensus to protect the sovereignty of the islands and islands of the Vietnamese people enough to encourage the Vietnamese government to be courageous and take practical actions to prevent corruption? China ‘s East Sea hegemony or?
Let us continue to observe the moves of General Secretary cum President Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Politburo of the Vietnamese Communist Party in Hanoi in the near future.
Hoang Lan from Hanoi – Thoibao.de (Translated)
