C3S Paper No. 0032/ 2015
Courtesy: World Affairs_Vietnam
Area : 331,212 sq km (127,882 sq mi) Population (2014 est.): 90,623,000 Capital : Hanoi Head of state : President Truong Tan Sang Head of government : Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
A major maritime confrontation between China and Vietnam erupted in 2014 (early May to mid-July) when China deployed a large offshore oil platform in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Bilateral relations plunged to their lowest level since the 1979 border war between the two countries. A mixed armada of some 80 Chinese vessels accompanied the platform. During the standoff Chinese ships regularly rammed Vietnam’s coast guard and fishery surveillance force vessels and used high-pressure water cannons to prevent the Vietnamese from interfering with the platform’s operations. Throughout May all Vietnamese attempts to make contact with their counterparts in China were rebuffed. China’s actions provoked peaceful anti-China demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and violent attacks by Vietnamese workers on hundreds of Chinese (and other foreignowned) enterprises in three industrial estates in Vietnam. China evacuated several thousand of its workers, demanded compensation, and imposed economic sanctions. Chinese tourism to Vietnam plummeted. Vietnam’s leadership appeared divided on how to respond to Chinese actions. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung publicly advocated taking international legal action against China. Other senior leaders were more circumspect.The Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) convened its ninth plenum on May 8–14. The meeting reviewed the implementation of previous resolutions on developing an advanced culture and a vote of confidence on government ministers, a pilot project on holding direct elections to people’s committees at the ward level, and draft policy documents and electoral procedures for the party’s forthcoming 12th National Congress in 2016. The Central Committee also resolved to closely monitor the maritime standoff and to search for a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
In June China dispatched State Councillor Yang Jiechi to Hanoi for tense consultations with Pham Binh Minh, Vietnam’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister. In early July the VCP Politburo reportedly voted overwhelmingly to hold a meeting of the Central Committee to endorse international legal action against China. Before it could act, however, China brought an abrupt end to the crisis by withdrawing its oil platform. Nonetheless, in July several dozen leading Vietnamese personalities signed an open letter that criticized the government for its handling of relations with Beijing.
In August China received a special envoy of the VCP secretary-general, and in October a high-powered Vietnamese military delegation followed. Hanoi subsequently hosted the seventh meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation later that month, at which Vietnam and China agreed to repair their relations. In addition, in March, Pres. Truong Tan Sang made a state visit to Japan, where bilateral relations were raised to the level of an extensive strategic partnership, and Japan offered Vietnam six maritime surveillance boats. Human rights and maritime-security issues featured in Vietnam-U.S. relations. In July a Politburo member was dispatched to Washington, D.C., for discussions with senior U.S. government officials. He was followed in October by Foreign Minister Minh, who met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry announced the partial lifting of a ban on the sale of lethal weapons to Vietnam. Vietnam later released two high-profile dissidents, which addressed U.S. human rights concerns, but it continued to detain and arrest political activists for criticizing state policy.
In September India’s president visited Vietnam and offered a $100 million line of credit for defense purchases. The following month Prime Minister Dung met his counterpart, Narendra Modi (see BIOGRAPHIES), in New Delhi, where it was announced that India would give priority to modernizing Vietnam’s armed forces. Vietnam’s economy was estimated to grow by 5.5% in 2014, and it was forecast that economic growth would increase modestly to 5.7% in 2015.
(Article reprinted with the permission of the author Carlyle A. Thayer, Emeritus Professor,The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra email: Carlthayer@webone.com.au)
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