By Nguyen Pham Muoi
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, center, chains his hands with Vietnam’s Defense Minister Gen. Phung Quang Thanh, right, and Thailand’s Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Yuthasak Sasiprapha before the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on Aug. 29. (Associated Press)
HANOI – Vietnam is adding three patrol vessels to its coast guard to take a stronger stance in defending its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The move was announced amid diplomacy last week that saw China, which has grown increasingly forceful in staking ownership of the entire sea, again spurning group negotiations with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and insisting on individual talks with smaller countries. Meanwhile, the Philippines said that an invitation to President Benigno Aquino III to visit a trade fair in China was withdrawn.
In conjunction with launching the ships, Vietnam renamed its maritime police agency to the Vietnam Coast Guard, signaling a greater role in enforcing claims of sovereignty in the waters off its 3,200-kilometer coastline. Training and funding will be increased.
The coast guard, under defense ministry control, operates a fleet of patrol ships and three Casa-212-400 aircraft for monitoring Vietnam’s maritime areas. In keeping with its standard policy, Hanoi did not say where the new ships, launched last week, came from or how much they cost.
“Vietnam’s efforts to protect its sovereignty over Hoang Sa islands, known as the Paracels, and Truong Sa islands, known as the Spratlys, will become increasingly firm and unavoidable and the country is in need of more international support and cooperation,” said Duong Danh Dy, a former Vietnamese diplomat and analyst.
“After years of soft diplomacy, Vietnam can’t accept to be passive and now is the time for it to make a stronger stance,” Mr. Dy told The Wall Street Journal.
Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh attended the annual ASEAN defense ministers’ meeting last Wednesday and Thursday in Brunei, where he held talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on ways to enhance military ties. Mr. Hagel accepted Mr. Thanh’s invitation to visit Vietnam next year, the first Vietnam war veteran in his current role to do so.
Mr. Thanh also visited the Philippines to boost maritime security cooperation as both countries are on the front lines of confronting China over the waters. He recently completed a two-week trip to Europe to deepen military ties and buy weapons from Russia, Poland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
The South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves, has become a sensitive flashpoint between China’s increasing military strength and its southern neighbors, some of which have encouraged an increased presence by the United States, Japan and other countries as a counter-balance to Beijing. Japan plans to deliver 10 patrol boats to the Philippines.
In another move to assert its claims, Vietnam this week held an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City to introduce a collection of 200 maps and documents, published by Vietnam, China and western countries from the 16th century to 1933, bolstering Vietnam’s claims of historical sovereignty.
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