The US Department of Defense on August 26 said it is greatly concerned by China’s coercive interference in Vietnam's longstanding oil and gas activities in the South China Sea (SCS).
|
China continued efforts to violate the rules-based international order throughout the Indo-Pacific, directly contradicting Chinese Minister of Defense Wei Fenghe’s pledge at the Shangri-La Dialogue that China would “stick to the path of peaceful development,” the Pentagon said in a statement on August 26.
“China’s actions stand in contrast to the United States’ vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms,” said the statement.
“China will not win the trust of its neighbors nor the respect of the international community by maintaining its bullying tactics,” said the Pentagon.
Chinese actions to coerce ASEAN claimants, station offensive military systems, and enforce an unlawful maritime claim raise serious doubts over China’s credibility.
“The United States will continue to support efforts by our allies and partners to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity throughout the entire Indo-Pacific,” the Pentagon noted.
China first sent its survey ships to harass Vietnam’s oil and gas activities near Bai Tu Chinh (Vanguard Bank) in the South China Sea in early July until August 8. The ship returned to the Vietnamese exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf on August 13 until now.
The Pentagon is the latest Trump administration agency to raise voice against China’s bullying tactics in the SCS.
The Department of State on July 20 expressed its concern by reports of China’s interference with oil and gas activities in this resources-rich sea, including Vietnam’s long-standing exploration and production activities. The department on August 22 stated that China’s actions undermine regional peace and security, impose economic costs on Southeast Asian states by blocking their access to an estimated $2.5 trillion in unexploited hydrocarbon resources.
“The United States therefore strongly opposes any efforts by China to threaten or coerce partner countries into withholding cooperation with non-Chinese firms, or otherwise harassing their cooperative activities,” the department’s Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stressed.
Eliot L. Engel, chairman of the US’s House Committee on Foreign Affairs, late in July called on China to “immediately withdraw” all ships from the territorial waters of Vietnam and stop bullying its neighbors.
President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton on August 22 tweeted: “China’s recent escalation of efforts to intimidate others out of developing resources in the South China Sea is disturbing. The United States stands firmly with those who oppose coercive behavior and bullying tactics which threaten regional peace and security.”
In a roundtable with reporters in Hanoi last week, Elbridge Colby, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development and one of the co-authors of the US’s 2018 National Defense Strategy, said that the US won’t accept China’s hegemony in the SCS and will help its partners in the region, including Vietnam, strengthen its maritime capacities to deal with China’s aggressiveness in the resource-rich sea.
