Vietnam, Philippines cheer as US lawmakers wage war of words against China

[Valin]

Thanh Nien News:

An Dien

HO CHI MINH CITY, July 14, 2014

 

A US Senate resolution which, among other things, urged China to withdraw its giant oil rig from Vietnamese waters has been welcomed by Vietnam and the Philippines, but several analysts say the move may only stoke the already simmering tensions in the region.

 

On July 10, the divided and partisan US Senate unanimously passed a resolution affirming “the strong support of the United States government for freedom of navigation and other internationally lawful uses of sea and airspace in the Asia-Pacific region, and for the peaceful diplomatic resolution of outstanding territorial and maritime claims and disputes.”

 

The resolution also touched on hot-button issues like the East China Sea dispute between China and Japan, the constitutional changes allowing Japan's use of the right of collective self-defense, and the Japan-US relationship.

 

It used strong words to condemn China's "unilateral actions" to change the status quo in disputed waters, particularly Beijing's decision to declare the air defense identification zone over the East China Sea last December.

 

(Snip)

 

H/T Peace and Freedom

[Valin]

Vietnam Opens Up About China
August 12, 2014

 

Vietnam recently invited a large group of foreign reporters onto coast guard vessels operating around disputed islands, in something of a break in the state’s usual restrictions on press access. A New York Times reporter invited onto the Vietnamese vessels describes the scene in the waters around China’s now-removed billion dollar oil rig:

 

(Snip)

 

Hanoi is making an obvious PR move here to curry favor with the Western public. This comes at a time when it is already shoring up relations with the likes of Japan and India, which are each key regional powers and Western allies. Not coincidentally, they are also both Chinese opponents.

 

This is the strategic environment that China has created in the region, and that it seems intent on perpetuating. As the rest of the world is transfixed by the Middle East and Ukraine, the standoff in Asia remains as real as ever.