Those are observations by columnist Kim Tuan on the ongoing sovereignty dispute in the East Sea. Excerpts follow:
While Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi was in Hanoi, China continued to bring its Nanhai 9 drilling rig into the East Sea. This prompted Professor Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, to say he does not believe China is acting in a way that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, and to describe it as a new provocation by China.
At the end of last year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Vietnam and agreed that during the search for a long-lasting and basic solution to the disputes at sea, the two sides should together control the situation and refrain from escalating the disputes.
He also said if problems arise, they should join hands to settle them in a timely and rational manner, preventing them from adversely affecting the bilateral cooperation and development.
However, China’s illegal placement of its Haiyang Shiyou-981 rig deep inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone runs totally counter to this spirit.
Worse still, on June 25, China publicised a new map in an attempt to realise its so-called “sovereignty manifestation”. In this illegal map, China defied international law and drew a 10-dot line that blankets all the East Sea including waters close to the coasts of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
There is a very popular anecdote among the Chinese on the defiance of everything. It goes that when asked by Han Shi Zhong (1089-1151), one of the four famous generals of the Nan Song dynasty (1127-1279), to table evidence against Yue Fei, Prime Minister Qin Gui (1090-1155) flatly replied: No evidence, no need for evidence.
For nearly a millennium now, the Chinese nation has condemned the reply as well as the “defying all” attitude by Qin Gui. Yet China itself is defying law and justice, trampling on the common moral standards to grab the interests which do not belong to it in the East Sea , as well as opting to act in the way blamed by the whole Chinese nation.
China believes it can use economic benefits to erode Vietnam ’s determination in safeguarding her independence and sovereignty. It is reported that China has banned its state-run enterprises from taking part in biddings in Vietnam, but it should also be repeated that for Vietnam, independence and sovereignty are the most sacred, economic benefits are very necessary but nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.
Vietnamese top leaders have stated that even a single inch of the mountains and rivers of the country can never be conceded, and that Vietnam is resolute not to exchange her sacred independence and sovereignty for anything.-VNA
