Vietnam isn't actually making headway against China

[adroth]

Extracted from the "4th Option" discussion.

Vietnam’s losses

Like China, the Communist Party of Vietnam -- particularly its Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- maintains a set of pre-programmed responses to perceived affronts to their interests. A protest for every action. While China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea, Vietnam’s response is a statement that describes their claims to be “incontestable”. It is, therefore, no surprise that they’ve taken a vocal stance towards China’s agenda.

But despite the anti-China rhetoric, China actually continues to get its way even in areas actively claimed by Vietnam. Consider the following:

Sansha City, the supposed Chinese capital of the South China Sea, is actually built on a former Vietnamese island in the Paracels

The first large artificial island was built on Fiery Cross Reef, which is the site of a naval battle between China and Vietnam, where 3 Vietnamese transport ships were sunk, and 72 sailors were killed. Chinese construction there is essentially a national affront to the memory of lost Vietnamese lives.

In March 2018, PetroVietnam withdrew an oil drilling contract from Repsol of Spain in response to Chinese threats. This resulted in a $200M loss for the Spanish company.

South China Sea: Vietnam halts drilling after 'China threats'
By Bill Hayton
BBC News
24 July 2017

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40701121

Vietnam has reportedly terminated a gas-drilling expedition in a disputed area of the South China Sea, following strong threats from China.
A source in the south-east Asian oil industry has told the BBC that the company behind the drilling, Repsol of Spain, was ordered to leave the area.
It comes only days after it had confirmed the existence of a major gas field.

Those reports have been corroborated by a Vietnamese diplomatic source.

According to the industry source, Repsol executives were told last week by the government in Hanoi that China had threatened to attack Vietnamese bases in the Spratly Islands if the drilling did not stop.

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Repsol asks Vietnam for compensation after drilling project halted
Reuters Staff
MAY 4, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-repsol-results-vietnam/repsol-asks-vietnam-for-compensation-after-drilling-project-halted-idUSKBN1I517E

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish oil major Repsol is in talks with Vietnam’s state oil company and national authorities over compensation for the suspension of an oil drilling project in the South China Sea, its chief financial officer said on Friday.

Vietnam halted the project in the “Red Emperor” block off its southeastern coast, which is licensed to Repsol, after coming under pressure from China, sources said in March.

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In light of the cancellation of the Spanish contract, Russia’s Rosneft has expressed concern about the fate of its own drilling contract off the coast of Vietnam.

Rosneft says South China Sea drilling is within Vietnam waters
Reuters Staff

https://www.reuters.com/article/rosneft-vietnam-southchinasea/rosneft-says-south-china-sea-drilling-is-within-vietnam-waters-idUSL3N1SO39Z

HANOI, May 17 (Reuters) - Drilling in the South China Sea by Rosneft is within Vietnamese territorial waters, the Russian state oil firm said in a statement on Thursday, two days after its Vietnamese subsidiary began drilling in Vietnamese waters claimed by China.

Rosneft’s local unit, Rosneft Vietnam BV, is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the South China Sea that falls within China’s “nine-dash line” could upset Beijing, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

“Offshore license areas of Rosneft on the South China Sea are situated within the territorial waters of Vietnam,” Rosneft said in its statement.

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EXCLUSIVE-Vietnam unit of Russia's Rosneft fears Beijing backlash over South China Sea drilling
By James Pearson
Reuters

https://www.compuserve.com/politics/story/0002/20180517/M1L3N1SN56V_1735131997

* Rosneft announces drilling in Vietnam's Block 06.1 on Tuesday

* Block is in area outlined by China's nine-dash line-consultant

* That line lays claim to much of the South China Sea

* Vietnam previously halted project by Repsol in a nearby block

* Rosneft Vietnam did not want publicity for drilling-sources

HANOI, May 17 (Reuters) - Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Russian state oil firm Rosneft, is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the South China Sea that is claimed by China could upset Beijing, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.

Rosneft said on Tuesday its Vietnamese unit had started drilling at the LD-3P well, part of the Lan Do "Red Orchid" offshore gas field in Block 06.1, 370 kms (230 miles) southeast of Vietnam.

The block is "within the area outlined by China's nine-dash line," according to energy consultancy and research firm Wood Mackenzie.

< Edited >

In March, Vietnam halted an oil drilling project in the nearby "Red Emperor" block following pressure from China, sources told Reuters.

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Fearing repercussions and pressure from China, Rosneft Vietnam had wanted to begin drilling with as little attention as possible, despite the statement by its parent company on Tuesday, the sources said.

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The drilling is significant for Vietnam, which has been struggling to maintain its crude oil and gas output amid already declining production from its key fields and the continuing pressure from China in the disputed waters.

In April, Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam said that maritime tensions with China will hurt its offshore exploration and production activities this year.

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Despite being 8th largest importer of weaponry in the world, whose inventory includes everything from Scud medium-range ballistic missiles . . .

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1iqatRTVXs

. . . modern submarines . . .

Lễ hạ thuỷ tàu kilo. Ảnh: TTXVN.

. . . frigates . . .

Gepard class frigate (Gepard 3.9 type)


From NavyRecognition

The Gepard-3.9 frigates are designated to search, trace and fight surface, underwater and air targets of the adversary, carry out escort operations, patrol and protect maritime state border and exclusive economic zone.

. . .  multi-role fighters, . . .

Phu Dong
Published on Apr 17, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXbt8y28EhU

. . . and surface-to-surface missiles, Vietnam is at the very least in a stalemate with China it can’t hope to outlast.



The Philippine strategy under Duterte, in contrast, has its sights on a more favorable outcome.

[adroth]

Ongoing standoff with China at the Vanguard Reef

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/china-vietnam-stand-off-over-072704965.html

Chinese and Vietnamese coastguard vessels have been involved in a week-long confrontation over a reef in the South China Sea, risking the biggest clash between the two nations in five years.

The stand-off may trigger a wave of anti-China sentiment in Vietnam not seen since 2014, when a Chinese oil rig arrived off the disputed Paracel Islands.

Six heavily armed coastguards vessels – two Chinese and four Vietnamese – have been eyeing each other in patrols around Vanguard Bank in the Spratly group of islands since last week. About a dozen vessels were reported in the vicinity by marine tracking websites on Thursday.

The stand-off emerged despite a pledge in May by Chinese and Vietnamese defence ministers to settle maritime disputes by negotiation.

The survey operations of the Haiyang Dizhi 8 (July 3-11, 2019).

China and Vietnam in stand-off over Chinese survey ship mission to disputed reef in South China Sea
Published: 3:29pm, 12 Jul, 2019

On Wednesday last week, Chinese survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 (Marine Geology entered waters near the Vietnamese-controlled reef to conduct a seismic survey, Ryan Martinson, an assistant professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, said in a tweet on Friday, citing ship tracking data.
Its escorts included the 12,000-tonne armed coastguard vessel 3901, complete with helicopter, and the 2,200-tonne coastguard ship 37111.

< snipped >

Vanguard Bank is the westernmost reef of the Spratlys and sits within what Hanoi claims is 200 nautical miles of its exclusive economic zone. That claim is contested by Beijing and Taiwan.

The Vanguard Bank basin is known to have rich oil and gas reserves, and Vietnam has dozens of oil rigs operating in the area. In 1994, armed Vietnamese vessels forced Chinese survey ship Shiyan 2 (Experiment 2) from the area after a three-day stand-off.

< snipped >

The latest stand-off came as China bolstered the role of its coastguard, which has been under military control since July last year and has been preparing for confrontations in disputed waters.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018332/beijing-and-hanoi-stand-over-chinese-survey-ship-mission

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018332/beijing-and-hanoi-stand-over-chinese-survey-ship-mission

Vietnam, China embroiled in South China Sea standoff
James Pearson, Khanh Vu
5 MIN READ

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-china-southchinasea/vietnam-china-embroiled-in-south-china-sea-standoff-idUSKCN1UC0MX

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been embroiled in a weeks-long standoff near an offshore oil block in disputed waters of the South China Sea, which fall within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, two Washington-based think-tanks said on Wednesday.

< Edited >

The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a ship operated by the China Geological Survey, on Monday completed a 12-day survey of waters near the disputed Spratly Islands, according to separate reports by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS)

One of the oil blocks it surveyed is licensed by Vietnam to Spanish energy firm Repsol (REP.MC), which was forced last year and in 2017 to cease operations in Vietnamese waters because of pressure from China.

As the Haiyang Dizhi 8 conducted its survey, nine Vietnamese vessels closely followed it. The Chinese ship was escorted by three China Coast Guard vessels, according to data from Winward Maritime, compiled by C4ADS.

In a separate incident days earlier, the China Coast Guard ship Haijing 35111 maneuvered in what CSIS described as a “threatening manner” toward Vietnamese vessels servicing a Japanese-owned oil rig, the Hakuryu-5, leased by Russian state oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM) in Vietnam’s Block 06.1, 370 km (230 miles) southeast of Vietnam.

That block is within the area outlined by China’s “nine-dash line”. A series of dashes on Chinese maps, the line is not continuous, making China’s claims often ambiguous.

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On Tuesday, Vietnam’s foreign ministry released a statement in response to unspecified “recent developments” in the South China Sea.

< Edited >

Vietnam demands China withdraw vessel from South China Sea
Reports suggest large-scale standoff between several coastguard ships from each country near the Spratly Islands.
15 hours ago

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-china-southchinasea/vietnam-china-embroiled-in-south-china-sea-standoff-idUSKCN1UC0MX

Vietnam has called on China to remove an oil exploration ship from disputed waters near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Reports in recent days have suggested a large-scale standoff between several coastguard ships from each country as a Chinese oil exploration ship entered contested waters near the Spratly Islands.

"Over the last several days, the Chinese survey ship, Haiyang Dizhi 8, and its escorts conducted activities in the southern area of the East Sea that violated Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf," Vietnamese foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement on Friday, using the Vietnamese term for the South China Sea.

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Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper reported on July 12 that six "heavily armed" coastguard vessels, two from China and four from Vietnam, had been eyeing each other since the beginning of the month.

Publicly available shipping data confirms the presence of the Chinese oil exploration ship in the disputed waters, near where the Russian oil company Rosneft began drilling on May 12 in a joint venture with Vietnam.

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https://www.facebook.com/VietDefenseVN/photos/a.1256417387849774/1386892651468913/?type=3&theater

A new photo published by local news media shows what appears to be a Vietnamese Truong Sa - class logistics vessel (left) working to stop Chinese Coast Guard vessel #37111 (right) from illegally operating in Vietnamese waters at Tu Chinh-Phuc Tan. The Truong Sa - class ship has been involve in the standoff from early July up until now. For operational security reasons, the exact amount of Vietnamese vessels forward deployed in the reef area cannot be revealed. Just know that Vietnamese forces are still carrying out their duties...wow it's been three months.

Source: Thanh Nien

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