It’s no secret that tensions in the South China Sea run high. While the most vocal critic of Beijing’s behavior tends to be the Philippines, with the US slowly stepping up its disapproval, the nation that really butted heads the most over the past year is Vietnam.
If you’ll recall, last year, China moved the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig into Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China supported this action with a massive fleet of over 100 vessels. Vietnam tried to repel the platform by sending its coast guard, but to no avail. Chinese vessels bumped and ground, forcing them back. If Vietnamese fishing vessels made the mistake of challenging, the results were sometimes catastrophic — resulting in the sinking of the weaker ships.
Now Vietnam looks to avoid a similar situation and has authorized its coast guard to use weapons to chase away foreign vessels entering the country’s waters illegally. This new order is set to take effective October 20th.
To dive into the ramifications, I recently spoke with Scott Harold, deputy director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy.
After listening to our conversation, what I’d like to know from you is this — Do you think Vietnam has the will to push back against China and will this lead to armed skirmishes?
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