As China consolidates its hold in South China Sea and wields its military, economic and diplomatic leverage, smaller countries see no credible option but to work with Beijing, even if that means furthering Chinese objectives. Manila, for example, seems willing to accede to Beijing’s demand for joint development of hydrocarbon resources in the Philippines’ own exclusive economic zone.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is welcomed at Haneda International Airport, Tokyo, on Sunday.
China's frigate Huangshan is seen anchored in the waters off RSS Singapura Changi Naval Base, May 15, 2017, in Singapore.
China and Vietnam vowed on Sunday (Apr 1) to keep the peace in the South China Sea, the resource-rich waterway that has long been a source of tension between Hanoi and its powerhouse communist neighbour.
Security experts have urged the Philippines to explore a common visiting forces agreement (VFA) with Japan and Australia or a trilateral deal among the three countries to counter China’s aggression and its continuing expansion in the South China Sea.
China has begun work or completed building infrastructure on about 72 acres (29 hectares) of land on outposts in the South China Sea this year, according to a report by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
As the maritime commons of Asia’s rapidly-growing, export-oriented countries, the South China Sea is traversed by some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. In recent years, it has also become a site of increased disputes over sovereign rights.
ASEAN foreign ministers have endoresed a proposal by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh for the ASEAN-China Summit in November to issue an official statement on the start of negotiations over a Code of Conduct for the East Sea.
Vietnam is deeply concerned about China’s announcement of holding a military drill in the waters off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Le Thi Thu Hang, said on August 31.
China’s construction and opening of a cinema on Phu Lam island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.
China, as a big country in the region and the world, needs to act responsibly and constructively in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region as well as in the East Sea on the basis of complying with international law, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang has said.
