In a tense month-long stalemate, Vietnamese ships have been keeping a
close watch on a Chinese vessel lurking in the waters of the most
disputed shipping lane. The Chinese survey ship appeared to be
conducting a survey of Vietnam's offshore oil blocks. The surprising
update that the Chinese ship has vacated the area came from a
Washington-based think tank. To get more
chinese world news daily, you can visit shine news official website.
The ship left the contested waters amid increasing tensions between
Beijing and Hanoi which erupted into protest earlier this month.
Last week, a Vietnamese fishermen’s group urged the government to take
stronger measures to remove the ships, saying they were disrupting
fishing activities. And on Tuesday, Vietnamese police broke up a
demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi against the
operations of the vessel and its escorts.
Washington has expressed concerns over China’s repeated actions against certain states in the region.
The US government has previously stated that it is alarmed by Beijing’s
“repeated provocative actions aimed at the offshore oil and gas
development of other claimant states”.
Vietnam foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang, urged vessels to
stay away from the area last month, she said: “Vietnam has had several
appropriate diplomatic exchanges requesting immediate withdrawal from
Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.
“Vietnam resolutely and persistently protects our sovereign rights by
peaceful means on the basis of international laws.”The recent arrival of
the vast US aircraft carrier ‘Ronald Reagan’ just off Manila reflects a
growing desire from Washington to push back in the region.
Rear Admiral Karl Thomas, who heads up the task force that commands the
Ronald Reagan, said: “The carrier is very capable and ready to respond
to a wide range of operations, whether they be a crisis or whether they
be a humanitarian disaster response.”
He said: “We also stand firmly against a disturbing pattern of aggressive behaviour, destabilising behaviour from China.
“This includes weaponising the global commons, using predatory economics
and debt for sovereignty deals, and promoting state-sponsored theft of
other nations’ intellectual property.”
The Wall