Now that an arbitral court in The Hague has ruled in favor of Manila over Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea, will Hanoi be next?
Now that an arbitral court in The Hague has ruled in favor of Manila over Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea, will Hanoi be next?
In recent weeks, incidents of bad behavior by Chinese tourists in Vietnam have widely circulated on social media and been reported by Vietnamese news media.
With tons of dead fish continuing to wash ashore, hundreds of Vietnamese gathered for peaceful protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in April and May.
Ahead of an expected unfavorable ruling for China in the South China Sea, Beijing has been rallying both international and domestic support to its cause.
A court in the Hague is due to issue this month a ruling on a case against China brought by the Philippines over maritime territory in the South China Sea.
Coinciding with Kerry’s visit to Beijing for high-level security talks, a Chinese fighter jet carried out an “unsafe” intercept of a U.S. spy plane.
Despite previous aggressive actions by Chinese vessels, Malaysia has ignored them, not wishing to disturb its trade and investment relationships with China.
While Obama spoke of the need for Vietnam to improve its human rights record, lifting of an arms embargo showed there are other considerations in play.
Despite concerns human rights violations in Vietnam, Obama opted to fully lift the arms embargo on lethal military equipment during his recent visit.
The U.S. decision to lift its arms embargo against Vietnam must factor in Russian rivalry and regional economic considerations.
The UNCHR stated that it is “concerned about the increasing levels of violence perpetrated against Vietnamese protesters expressing their anger over the mysterious mass deaths of fish along the country’s central coast.”
The incident last week was not a one-off: there have been dozens of attacks by Chinese vessels on Vietnamese fishing boats in the Paracel Island chain since last year.
In contrast to the more vocal governments in Manila and Hanoi, not much is heard these days concerning Brunei’s claims in the South China Sea.
In a potential geopolitical tit-for-tat, some analysts warn Beijing may soon declare an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea, should the U.S. go ahead with plans to conduct a freedom of navigation exercise announced for April.
On Friday, the U.S. Navy officially announced another episode of its planned “freedom of navigation” series in the South China Sea, shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a nuclear summit in Washington.