Military of China, force comment.
Military of China, force comment.

7 February, the U.S. Navy’s newest amphibious dock landing ship LPD-18 New Orleans Road in the South China Sea waters fuel supply of goods. A U.S. guided missile cruiser from the boatswain is “Lake Champlain” was observed in New Orleans No.

internationally with a view of who controls the South China Sea, anyone can control in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Northwest and thus control the entire continent of Australia. Preliminary estimates, the entire South China Sea oil reserves at 230 billion -300 billion tons, accounting for about one-third of China’s total resources, the “second Persian Gulf,” said. The face of abundant marine resources and the unresolved maritime boundary issues, the more the sea again to start the negotiations, both sides of the negotiations unprecedented attention, causing widespread concern.

12th of this month, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and his Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Hu Chun-Shan and Vietnam held in Hanoi, the delegation met with government border negotiations, focusing on maritime issues in the consultation.

Although no advance notice of the meeting, but from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a domestic short messages or cause widespread concern. “Vietnam maritime boundary talks mechanism already been made, but Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei personally, this is the negotiation mechanism at sea not seen since before the establishment of high-profile demonstration of the importance attached to both sides.” One expert said the South China Sea.

“maritime issues,” Origin

fact, Vietnam border negotiations began in 1974, but has been no progress until 1991, Vietnam normalization of relations after the breakthrough. This year, the two countries issued a joint communique said the two sides will begin to resolve the border issue between the two countries, and has established a maritime and land border negotiations group.

difficult negotiations over the past years, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Qi Jianguo, former ambassador said with emotion: “easy!” December 30, 1999, China and Vietnam after 16 rounds of talks the two sides finally signed the “Sino-Vietnam land Border Treaty “, and be completed late last year the work of land border demarcation markers.

However, in the more complex and have to maritime boundary negotiations much more difficult. Solely on the “sea” the origin of the term, there is a story. As one of the Qi Jianguo, Chinese negotiators recalled, China’s traditional all Xisha and Nansha Islands in Vietnam were called sand and Changsha Islands, in the year negotiations, the Chinese used to refer to “the South China Sea,” Vietnam is called ” East China Sea, “both sides do not compromise. Do not make the whole word of the impasse in negotiations, Tang Jiaxuan, the Chinese delegation to convene a meeting to discuss this.

“I put such a proposal and I say the more controversial, more generally, the better we say ‘South’, Vietnam insisted called ‘East Sea’, we ‘East’ crossed ‘ Hai ‘followed by an’ on ‘and they said that Vietnam would agree? I said, they will certainly be meeting to study one hour, one hour after said agreement. “Qi Jianguo said with a smile,” when asked the Vietnamese delegation Hanoi, agreed. then later on has been using the ‘maritime issues’ in this formulation. “

After years of negotiations, Vietnam signed at the end of 2001 the northern Gulf Demarcation Agreement, June 30, 2004 official came into effect. This is China’s first maritime boundary line, this year has been implemented for five years. But in the “Sea issue”, that is the issue of Nansha Islands and the Paracel Islands, Vietnam has not reached any demarcation agreement, but the atmosphere more tense.

this year, Vietnam in the South China Sea on deregulation. April 25, Vietnam Da Nang city People’s Committee Chairman appointed Minister Deng House language as a “sand island county” (China Sea) People’s Committee chairman. Deng then accept the Vietnamese language radio interview, said, to defend the “sovereignty.” May, despite China’s opposition to Vietnam, Malaysia jointly submit to the United Nations continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, “submission.” July 24, Vietnam, Khanh Hoa People’s Committee Chairman Wu Linfei signed the decision to approve the appointment of the Vietnamese Navy, Deputy Commander 4 Brigade area 146 along any of the Nguyen said, “Changsha” (China Nansha) Vice Chairman.

“South China Sea issue during the first half of this year showed abnormal tension is not only active in Vietnam to pick a country thing,” expert on the South China Sea, Academy of Social Sciences Borderland History and Geography Research Center Li Guoqiang, deputy director explained, “Earlier this year Philippine Senate bill passed third reading, part of the Nansha Islands, reefs and China Huangyan Island designated as the Philippine Islands; early March, followed by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the projectile landing Spratly Islands Reef (Layang Layang, Malaysia, said the island), the first time Malaysian Prime Minister’s declaration of identity ‘with’ the territory of the film finally is to Vietnam. “

Li Guoqiang,” said maritime issues, “the reason why the issue is more complex than the land there are two main reasons: first, the ocean do on land, it is difficult at sea crossed, playing boundary markers, vertical pillar; second, it is because the “United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea” brought confusion. The Convention established the 12-mile territorial sea the coastal state and 200 mile exclusive economic zone of jurisdiction over. As a result, countries have claim of sovereignty, a claim to sovereignty over the South China Sea overlap.

“emphasized by traditional Chinese sovereignty and the interests of neighboring countries, the reality of conflict,” said Li Guoqiang, “is more complicated, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei and other countries, there is a dispute between them All these contradictions are intertwined, resulting in maritime issues remain unresolved. “

Nanyang Institute of Xiamen University, Professor Li Jinming simply said in an interview:” In the Nansha Sea issue, China and Vietnam There is no common language, advocates on both sides of the gap is too large, we say ‘Kau-line’ in our waters, but Vietnam said Xisha, Nansha are they. “

According to” United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea ” The designated standard, China’s South China Sea region has more than 1,700 islands, you can see from the map of China are located in one of these islands is known as “Kau-line” within the boundaries of the country. Now this “Kau line” not optimistic, and 300 million square kilometers of sovereignty in our waters less than half of actual control. Among them, Vietnam has occupied China’s Nansha Islands and the illegal 29.

“blue enclosure movement”

from the 60 years since the last century, the South China Sea oil and gas value gradually being discovered. Preliminary estimates, the entire South China Sea oil reserves at 230 billion -300 billion tons, accounting for about one-third of China’s total resources, is the world’s four major offshore oil and gas gathering centers, the “second Persian Gulf “said. In addition, the South China Sea also bears manganese nodules, “combustible ice” and other valuable mineral resources.

Li Guoqiang of the South China Sea over 20 years, very worried about the status of the South China Sea: “the so-called blue enclosure movement, refers to the relevant national competition for marine resources, focusing on some of the initiatives undertaken by the waters.” He said , due to the scarcity of land resources has been insufficient to support the 21st century, economic growth, in order to survive, the world he turned his glance turned to the underwater world.

before the 1970s, Vietnam was accepted Spratly Islands are Chinese territory and the Sea, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong gave Premier Zhou Enlai wrote a letter, admit it. But the 1980s Vietnam gradually made and implemented “maritime strategy”, they denied previous commitments, also occupied by China Nansha islands classified as a province, the so-called “Fu-Sui province.”

to occupy long-term benefits arising from the South China Sea islands, the Vietnamese diplomatic carried out mainly around two aspects. First, the positive relationship between development and the ASEAN countries in 1995, Vietnam became a full member of ASEAN, the South China Sea issue, trying to join forces with other countries to exert pressure on China, its occupation of the Nansha Islands “legalized.”

2002 signed in November, “South China Sea Declaration on Conduct of Parties”, the Vietnam that it has obtained the Chinese “do not use force to resolve disputes,” the peace symbol, then one step close to the minefield, and constantly made in China play a round of so-called “South China Sea sovereignty” media offensive.

the other hand, Vietnam also some of the great powers outside the region to introduce the South China Sea, such as the United States, Japan and India. The most typical is the United States. Despite the large oil companies in Vietnam to participate in the Western South China Sea oil development of technical and economic reasons, but the use of rich oil and gas resources in the South China Sea as bait, so that the internationalization of the South China Sea dispute, say that it is a very important motivation.

for the same purpose, other countries, such as the Philippines and Malaysia also have to occupy the site in the South, take the oil drilling. Li Guoqiang said that now when night fell, the South China Sea over the brightly-lit, busy more than 1,000 wells to work with, but not a part of China.

According to reports, Vietnam’s oil production of about 17.5 million tons last year, mostly from the South China Sea, Vietnam, its output accounts for more than 30 percent of national GDP, “so stay here, the South China Sea oil resources are dwindling, leaving China of also running out. “

for China’s relatively” low key “, Li Guoqiang think there are two reasons: First, China’s technology also can not keep up, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries oil from the reservoir area near the Chinese distant, early geophysical survey work is more complex; Second, China is a responsible big country, as early as the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping said that the issue of the South China Sea, to adhere to the “sovereignty in me, shelving disputes and seeking common development “principle, China has been in exploring and developing countries together, and no unilateral action.

but the reality is very cruel, responsible approach with China, in stark contrast, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and other countries in the South China Sea oil production at full capacity. In this case, to Die Zeit, Roger Lee told reporters: “In the South China Sea issue, we probably have to have new ideas.”

Dalian Naval Academy professor, oceanographer China National Land Rude pain, “the lack of marine consciousness “,” China’s three million square kilometers of waters under the jurisdiction of the disputed waters accounted for more than half an inch of land to land, we hesitate to bloodshed, but the loss of so many islands, but asleep, which is heavy on land, sea light. failed to recognize the value of the sea itself. “

facing the South China Sea status quo, the Chinese government has realized the seriousness of the problem, the end of March this year, the Foreign Ministry set up a boundary with the Division for Ocean Affairs.

Although the Foreign Ministry denied that the problem is intensified because of the South China Sea and the establishment of the Division an unnamed official told the Weekly Times reporter, said, “the background is complex, not one or two things result, the long period of time. “But he also admitted that the maritime boundary negotiations have done a lot of trivial matters, will belong to several divisions of the previous work and together, the efficiency will be higher. (Die Zeit correspondent chapter text)