Tai Lieu Chat Luong Vietnam and the South China Sea Studies of the escalating tensions and competing claims in the South China Sea overwhelmingly focus on China and its increasingly assertive approach, while the position of the other claimants is overlooked. This book focuses on the attitude of Vietnam towards the South China Sea dispute. It examines the position from a historical perspective, shows how Vietnam’s position is affected by its wish to maintain good relations with China on a range of issues, and outlines how Vietnam has occasionally made overtures to both the United States and Japan in order to bolster its position, and considered the possibility, so far resisted, of taking China to formal arbitration under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The book concludes by assessing the future prospects for Viet- nam’s position in the dispute.
Do Thanh Hai is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for East Sea Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. He has a PhD from the Australian National University, where he was a Prime Minister’s Australian Asia Endeavour Awardee. Routledge Security in Asia Pacific Series Series Editors Leszek Buszynski Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, the Australian National University and William Tow Australian National University Security issues have become more prominent in the Asia Pacific region because of the presence of global players, rising great powers, and confident middle powers, which intersect in complicated ways. This series puts forward important new work on key security issues in the region.
It embraces the roles of the major actors, their defense policies and postures and their security interaction over the key issues of the region. It includes coverage of the United States, China, Japan, Russia, the Koreas, as well as the middle powers of ASEAN and South Asia. It also covers issues relating to environmental and economic security as well as transnational actors and regional groupings. For a full list of titles in this series, please visit https://www.com/Routledge- Security-in-Asia-Pacific-Series/book-series/SE899 26 India’s Ocean The story of India’s bid for regional leadership David Brewster 27 Defence Planning and Uncertainty Preparing for the next Asia-Pacific war Stephan Frühling 28 The South China Sea Maritime Dispute Political, legal, and regional perspectives Edited by Leszek Buszynski and Christopher B.
Roberts 29 South Asia’s Nuclear Security Bhumitra Chakma 30 The New US Strategy towards Asia Adapting to the American pivot Edited by William T. Tow and Douglas Stuart 31 Vietnam and the South China Sea Politics, Security and Legality Do Thanh Hai Vietnam and the South China Sea Politics, Security and Legality Do Thanh Hai First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Do Thanh Hai The right of Do Thanh Hai to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-92997-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-68078-1 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC To Dad, Mum, and Trang Contents List of figures viii Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations x Introduction 1 1 Under the shadow of the Dragon 9 2 Vietnam’s claims in the South China Sea 28 3 Befriending the Dragon, 1986–1995 66 4 ASEANising the South China Sea issue, 1995–2002 95 5 Shaping the regional balance of influence, 2003–2007 124 6 Riding on nationalism, 2007–2009 151 7 Internationalising the South China Sea issue, 2009–2011 171 8 Navigating big power politics, 2011–2015 197 Conclusion 219 Bibliography 229 Index 256 Figures 2.1 The claims in the South China Sea 29 2.2 Toan tap Thien nam Chi lo do thu (Handbook of the South’s Road Map), 1630–1635 30 2.3 A page about Hoang Sa Archipelago in Dai Nam thuc luc Chinh bien (Chronicle of Greater Vietnam: main chapter), 1847 32 2.4b A petition on Hoang Sa submitted to Emperor Thieu Tri, 1847 34 2.5 Dai Nam Thong nhat Toan do (complete map of Unified Dai Nam), 1838 36 2.6 Hoang Sa va Truong Sa in an enlarged portion of Dai Nam Nhat thong Toan do, 1854–1875 37 2.7 A geographical Imeri Anamitic (Map of the Annam Empire), 1838 38 2.8 The Paracels and Spratlys 39 2.9 Baselines of Vietnam, 1982 53 2.10 Exploration activities in the South China Sea 54 2.11 Map of Trilateral Joint Seismic Survey Area between China, Philippines and Vietnam, 2005–2008 55 2.12 The delimitation line and joint fishing zone in the Gulf of Tonkin, 2004 56 2.13 China’s nine-dash line map attached to its notes verbales of 2009 57 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Leszek Buszynski for his inspirational supervision and men- torship. He encouraged and guided me through considerable confusion, frustration, and anxiety during my doctoral research and preparation for this book. I am also intellectually indebted to many scholars who have inspired and sup- ported me since my research idea took shape.
Among them are Dang Dinh Quy, Christopher Roberts, Tran Truong Thuy, Carlyle A. Thayer, Nguyen Hong Thao, Nguyen Vu Tung, Tran Viet Thai, Nguyen Hung Son, Hoang Anh Tuan, and Nguyen Thi Lan Anh. A note of thanks is due to Stephan Frühling, Benjamin Schreer, and Ron Huis- ken, who were my academic advisers at the Strategic and Defense Studies Cen- tre at the Australian National University, for their valued assistance and critical feedback. Many thanks go to Ha Anh Tuan, Le Hong Hiep, Kalman Robertson, Scott Bentley, Nguyen Binh Duong, and other friends for their willingness to offer a hand whenever I was in need.
I am very thankful to my parents, Do Hai Van and Ngo Thi Chuc, and my parents-in-law, Duong Van Ket and Nguyen Thi Dinh, for their unconditional love and support. I owe my deepest gratitude to my wife, Duong Thu Trang, for her dedication to and faith in me. Last but not least, it is important to acknowledge that this study was made pos- sible with the support of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award, as provided by the Australian government. Abbreviations ADMM ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting AMM ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting APT ASEAN Plus Three ARF ASEAN Regional Forum ASEAN Association of the Southeast Asian Nations BP British Petroleum CBM Confidence building measure CCP Chinese Communist Party CLCS United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf COC Code of conduct CPV Communist Party of Vietnam DOC Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea DRV Democratic Republic of Vietnam EAVG East Asia Vision Group EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone FDI Foreign direct investment GDP Gross domestic product GFC Global financial crisis ICJ International Court of Justice MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs n.
nautical mile(s) PLA Chinese People’s Liberation Army PRC People’s Republic of China PRG Provisional Revolutionary Government in South Vietnam ROC Republic of China RVN Republic of Vietnam SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization SOM Senior official meeting SRV Socialist Republic of Vietnam TAC Treaty of Amity and Cooperation UN United Nations Abbreviations xi UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNSC United Nations Security Council US United States VPA Vietnamese People’s Army Introduction This is a book about Vietnam’s maritime posture under the shadow of a rising Chinese Dragon. It systematically traces continuity and changes in Vietnam’s approach to the South China Sea – which is referred to as the East Sea (Bien Dong) in Vietnam – in the post–Cold War period. Vietnam’s evolving maritime interests and claims are situated in the interplay of a global milieu and national politics that influence the foreign policy decision-making circle in Hanoi. But essentially, the book is all about Hanoi’s strategic thinking and how it has been played out in Vietnam’s attempts to defend its offshore interests, deny foreign control of the sea area critical to its national security, and shape strategic seascape beyond its shore.
The study’s major finding is that Beijing’s maritime assertiveness made it difficult for Vietnam to maintain a traditional friendship with China. It is argued that concerns about China’s attempts to control the South China Sea have driven Vietnam to increase its national strength and resilience and expand economic and security relations with other big powers. The study focuses on Vietnam as a claimant in the South China Sea, one of the most contested areas in East Asia. Over the last decade, academic and public inquiry into the South China Sea disputes increased significantly as tensions in the South China Sea have flared up without any signs of abating.
Enormous scholarly efforts had been made over the last five years to identify key determinants of these developments. However, much of the attention has been naturally focused on a rising China as the most powerful claimant in the dispute and the potential dis- rupter of the regional order. Other smaller claimants had been largely overlooked, or have been studied within the context of China’s policy and big power politics. This imbalance in the literature has the potential of distorting the cycle of actions and reactions, which shaped the dynamics of the disputes.
Against that backdrop, this book, which offers the view from a smaller claimant but a key rival to China, will be an important contribution that helps rebalance the current discourse. Recent troubles in the South China Sea are no way just tempests in a teapot. The sea is rich in oil and fish. More importantly, it straddles principal maritime pathways that carry about 30 per cent of global trade and 50 per cent of global oil tanker shipments.
Any conflicts to erupt there would lead to significant fallout on the global economy. Therefore, anxieties are not just about entitlements to mari- time resources but also about rules, order, and secure access to this strategic body 2 Introduction of water, which Robert Kaplan regarded as “the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans” (emphasis added). It is fundamentally the question of Beijing’s strategic intents, the nature of China’s rise, and implications on the global maritime order. Will China rise peacefully? How will the United States and other powers responded to China’s emergence as a global power? Clearly, rapid militarisation in China has sparked fears and disquiet across the Indo-Pacific region.
Peace is still there but the sense of insecurity and uncertainty is prevalent. As Thucydides gives us some insight, the Peloponnesian War became inevitable because the rise of Athens set off an alarm in Sparta. John Mearsheimer, a distinguished professor at the University of Chicago, foretold a decade ago that China’s rise would not be amicable. In this regard, the South China Sea is seen as a test case for China’s long- heralded “peaceful development” and a barometer for power contests in the region.
Vietnam is arguably a major player in the balance of power in the South China Sea and Southeast Asia, not just because of its formidable military strength, but also its exceptional nationalism and strategic sturdiness. Dyer opines in The Contest of the Century: The New Era of Competition with China (2014), “Its combustible politics and deep-seated historical resentment make Vietnam the country one can most easily imagine fighting a war with China.