China vessel rams another Vietnam ship

Posted to the Manila Standard Today (Jun 5): China vessel rams another Vietnam ship

China again fired water cannon at a Vietnamese vessel and damaged another of Hanoi’s ships, state media said, in the latest confrontation over disputed waters in the South China Sea.

A Chinese coastguard ship collided with a Vietnamese government vessel on Sunday, state broadcaster China National Radio said, adding that the Vietnamese ship was “severely damaged.”

A sharp rise in tensions between the Communist neighbors was triggered by China’s installation of an oil rig in disputed waters last month, leading to Vietnam’s biggest anti-China riots in decades, where four people were said to have been killed.

Earlier on Sunday, “China fired a water cannon at a Vietnamese ocean inspection ship creating trouble near the 981 oil platform,” the CNR said, adding that the Vietnamese ship retreated after five minutes.

Vietnam last month accused a Chinese ship of ramming and sinking one of its fishing boats, fanning territorial tensions over Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in contested waters.

Relations, though frequently testy, have plummeted between the neighbours over the oil rig’s presence, triggering international alarm.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned China Saturday against “destabilising actions” in the South China Sea, and backed Japan’s plans to take on a more muscular military role as a counterweight to Beijing.

China reacted angrily to Hagel’s comments, with Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army Wang Guanzhong accusing the US of “intimidation.”

The oil rig is positioned in the vicinity of the contested Paracel Islands.

China’s ruling Communist party seeks to win domestic support by taking a tough stance on territorial issues, but also attempts to remain on good terms with neighbours for the sake of economic growth, according to analysts.

Chinese Internet users applauded reports of the latest clash. “This is exactly how we need to deal with Vietnam,” one wrote on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

“China is too soft on Vietnam,” said another.

The incident occurred after  Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the risk of territorial disputes damaging trade in Asia is “very real” and the region must focus on shoring up economic links as well as security ties, according to.

“It’s completely artificial to think that there are somehow firewalls between trade and security,” Ng, 55, said in an interview at the Ministry of Defense.

“We shouldn’t from a security point of view be dominating headlines every few other days and I don’t think it’s necessarily a positive if this continues for the region. At some point it may impact trade and our real economies.”

Ng was speaking after a weekend forum of defense ministers and military leaders in Singapore, where the U.S. and China openly criticized each other over their agenda in the region and China’s claims over large parts of the East China Sea and South China Sea dominated discussion.

The meeting highlighted the growing pains in Asia as China emerges as a military and economic power, challenging decades of U.S. dominance.

“China’s rise is a fact,” Ng said in the interview. “China needs to articulate its own vision, and its own position in this new, revised world order. Our approach has been that dialogue is essential, inclusivity is important.”

“If China and Japan got into a war, that would be a real problem,” Norman Boersma, Bahamas-based chief investment officer of Templeton Global Equity Group, which manages $130 billion in assets, said in an interview in Singapore. “These are two big economies and they would have a fundamental impact.”

The U.S. comments follow Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s appeal for a “stronger voice” from the U.S. against China after clashes between coast guard and fishing vessels near an oil rig China placed in contested waters off Vietnam’s coast. The Philippines, dwarfed militarily by China, has sought support from the U.S. and the United Nations against China’s encroachment into shoals off its coast.

Ng, a medical doctor who previously served in the education and manpower portfolios, said given the current tensions, the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and other multinational deals are “quite strategic, not just good to have but a must to have.”

The U.S.-led 12-nation TPP, which would cover an area with about $28 trillion in annual economic output, doesn’t include China.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/06/05/china-vessel-rams-another-vietnam-ship/