SEA STANDOFF — China Coast Guard 3411 vessel (left) and Vietnam Coast Guard 4032 vessel sail Thursday in the tension-filled area of the South China Sea where Vietnam has protested the construction of Chinese oil rig, Haiyang Shi You 981 (inset). (AP/EPA)
China’s decision to place an oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea is a provocative act and raises tensions in the region, the White House said on Friday.
“We consider that act provocative and we consider it one that undermines the goal that we share, which is peaceful resolution of these disputes and general stability in the region,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said at his regularly scheduled briefing.
“We’re very concerned about dangerous conduct and intimidation by government-controlled assets operating in this area,” Carney said.
Anti-Chinese violence flared in Vietnam this week after China put an oil rig in a spot claimed by Hanoi. The move is the latest in a series of confrontations between China and neighbors over small islands in the oil-and-gas-rich body of water, prompting fears that Beijing has adopted a more assertive approach to territorial disputes after seeing Russia annex Crimea.
MOST DIRECT CRITICISM
The White House statement was the most direct US criticism of China since the placement of the oil rig escalated tensions in the region.
During a trip through Asia in April, Obama provided reassurances to several countries that while the United States wants to see maritime disputes settled through diplomacy, it would live up to its obligation to defend its allies in the region.
“These events highlight the need for the claimants to clarify their claims in accordance with international law and to reach agreement on appropriate behavior and activities in disputed areas,” Carney said. He added that while the United States does not take a position in the disputes, it opposes any efforts to settle them by intimidation or coercion.
The Philippines, one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia, has said China is reclaiming land on Mabini (Johnson South) Reef that both countries claim, and is building what appears to be an airstrip on it. It has offered the United States the use of an underdeveloped naval base in Palawan to ensure US warships can enter the vicinity.
WHERE IS WASHINGTON?
With Beijing’s boldest moves in years to lay claim to contested waters off Vietnam, some Asia countries are asking a simple question: Where is Washington?
The move came days after US President Barack Obama had sought to reassure allies in Asia last month that the United States would support them in the face of a more assertive Beijing.
Days after Obama left the region, China deployed the oil drilling rig 150 miles (240 km) off the coast of Vietnam, into a part of the South China Sea claimed by itself and Hanoi. That sparked deadly anti-China riots in central Vietnam and raised questions over whether Obama’s long-promised strategic “pivot” of military assets to Asia is more than talk.
“I wanted to see the US match with stronger action what President Obama said during his recent visit in the Philippines,” a senior Philippine defense official said.
China claims a big area of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), setting it in direct conflict with claims of US allies Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia also lay claim to parts of the South China Sea.
At stake is control over what are believed to be significant reserves of oil and gas. Estimates for proven and undiscovered oil reserves in the entire sea range from 28 billion to as high as 213 billion barrels of oil, the US Energy Information Administration said in a March 2008 report.
CLOSE EYE ON US
The United States does not have a treaty obligation to defend Vietnam as it does the Philippines, and there was no sign Washington was considering tougher actions such as sending more navy ships to the area or imposing sanctions on Beijing.
Due to the intertwined nature of the US and Chinese economies, there is little appetite in Washington for the kind of punitive measures that have been used against Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
Some China watchers believe a firmer US stand is needed.
COLLIDING SHIPS
The deployment of the Chinese oil rig has prompted Vietnam and China to play a very tense game on high seas.
Each day the Vietnamese ships tried to get close to the rig. And each day they were driven back by the much larger Chinese ships.
But before they sped away, laboring engines spewing black smoke, the Vietnamese delivered a message: “Attention! Attention! We are warning you about your provocative act,” blasted out a recording from a loudspeaker in Vietnamese, Chinese, and English. “We demand you respect Vietnam’s sovereignty. Please immediately halt your activities and leave Vietnamese waters.”
Occasionally colliding with or firing water cannons at each other, Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been shadow-boxing in a sun-dazzled patch of the South China Sea since May 1, when Beijing parked a hulking, $1-billion deep sea oil rig, drawing a furious response from Vietnam.
Vietnam, ten times smaller than its northern neighbor and dependent on it economically, needs all the help it can get in the dispute. Its leaders believe international opinion is on their side. This week they invited foreign journalists to get a closer look at the standoff, the most serious escalation between the countries in years over their overlapping claims.
http://www.mb.com.ph/us-hits-chinas-deployment-of-oil-rig-in-viet-claimed-area/
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