30 December 2008

Washington, D.C. - On December 28, VietWill took the information campaign to the U.S. capital in order to raise awareness of Chinese Navy assertiveness.  China's willingness to send warship to join India, Russia, NATO and the U.S. to fight pirates in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia reflects the growing confidence of its military strength and its intention to be a blue-water power.  While China's action may be construed as good will in the West, to many of its Asian neighbors, this signals a growing threat as China flexes its military muscles in the region and beyond. 

"For Japan and some in South Korea, this is another step in the unwelcome growth of the Chinese navy as a capable blue-water force, which has only downsides for Tokyo and Seoul," said Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.  Roy, who is an expert in Chinese military, suggests that China needs to protect its increasing global interests, and Beijing still believes it needs to enter the field.  However, Roy said, that leaves open the possibility of a China-U.S. naval rivalry in the future.

China has been in territorial water disputes with Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.  The dispute in South China Sea has been a concern for the stability of the region, and it should be settled by peaceful means.  Yet, up till now, China has been using its military strength in conjunction with economic advantage to exercise its illegal claims.  Chinese navy built a military base on Mischief Reef which it forcefully seized from the Philippines in 1995, to this country's unsuccessful protest.  Beijing has also branded Vietnamese fishermen robbers and pirates to justify intentional acts of attacking them on waters which China claims as its own historic sea.  Innocent Vietnamese fishermen have often been shot, killed, or captured and fined by Chinese navy on the  South China Sea.  Chinese navy boats have at numberous times been reported to intrude into Vietnamese water, sometimes, as close as 40km offshore. 

Although Roy said that most Southeast Asian countries may see China's involvement in the anti-piracy campaign to mean that "China was using its greater military might for constructive purposes, rather than challenging the current international order", we are still skeptical about its intention due to Chinese navy's history of hostile actions in the South China Sea. 

VietWill's demonstration in Washington D.C., however, was not meant to protest China's involvement in the anti-piracy effort in the Gulf of Aden, but rather to raise awareness about implications observed from past and present actions carried out by the Chinese navy, especially in regards to the South China Sea.  Building a powerful navy in order to exercise rightful defense of one's national borders and to collaborate in international peace keeping efforts is certainly justified and laudable. However, it is a completely different matter when that same is navy is deployed to infringe on territorial integrity of other countries and at times ordered to harm innocent lives.  We still have to wait and see how else China's navy will be put to use in the near and far future.

Along with members of the overseas Vietnamese community, VietWill members made it out to San Francisco on Friday, 5 December 2008 to protest against China's aggression in the South China Sea.

VietWill's demonstration was peaceful and educational to both those who participated in the demonstration and passers-by, as these photos would indicate.

 
 
 







 















Members of the overseas community protesting in front of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco 

24 November 2008

San Jose, CA - VietWill's signature collection campaign to call on the United Nations to pay due attention to the issue of China's aggression in the South China Sea has been launched successfully on Saturday, 22 November 2008. At the first location set up for the purpose, VietWill members collected hundreds of signatures that speak to the support for the cause being carried out by the activist group. (Photo: Three VietWill members manning the table while others approach prospective signers with information).

Before signing, individuals were presented with a letter of petition that they could read in order to see if they agreed to the content of the letter. This letter will be sent to the United Nations Security Council after an adequate number of signatures has been collected, which is planned to be before the end of December.

The content of VietWill's petition calls on the highest governing body of the United Nations to pay due attention to acts of aggression carried out by China and this country's unreasonable claims in the South China Sea that affect the stability of Southeast Asia and prevent countries from carrying out political and economic activities to which they are properly entitled to under international maritime law.  China's aggression in the region also negatively affects all countries that use the South China Sea as a sealane.

According to a VietWill member, the intention of the group to send the petition to the U.N. received great support from everyday people who were approached by VietWill members as they went about their shopping activities at a local shopping center. "A man with a cane and had difficulty walking came to our table and signed the petition," said Ailien Tran. "He even bought our T-shirt and put it on immediately. After that, he stayed for a long time and asked people to support us."

The T-shirts which depict the logo of the VietWill group and calls for defence of Vietnamese fishermen often falling under attack of the Chinese navy in the disputed waters of South China Sea had been distributed free at the San Francisco Olympic Torch Relay earlier this year. However, on Saturday they were sold for five dollars as a fundraising activity for the group.

VietWill is planning to collect signatures at other locations in the coming up weeks before sending its petition to the U.N.

Photos may be seen at this link:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=13tir7n5.jfk1shd&x=0&y=8cv9wt&localeid=en_US

By Tony Le
26 October 2008

Bangkok - Last week, the news out of China on the occasion of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Beijing was all about friendship and cooperation between the two neighboring countries. Xinhua reported that in a joint statement the two countries aimed to seek a basic and lasting solution to the South China Sea territorial dispute that has been going on for decades.

Even at the same time that the website of Vietnam’s foreign ministry remains silent on the issue and the public is left in the dark on the content and the progress of the negotiation, Vietnamese concerned about China’s aggression in the region can only hope that when the so called basic and lasting solution is announced that Vietnamese will not respond with jaws dropped in disbelief and disappointment.

New Delhi: With the Olympics behind now, China has begun flexing its muscles to browbeat its neighbors to fall in line or face the music. Serious concerns have been expressed, especially by Vietnam, over the recent intense activities of the Chinese Navy in and around the disputed Paracel and Spratly islands in the South China Sea, says a blog post.

Taking advantage of the 7th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) on October 24-25 in Beijing, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived in the Chinese capital a day before the summit to discuss the issue with the Chinese leaders.