Conversation

12.16.22

How Well Is China Advancing Its Interests in Southeast Asia?

Gregory B. Poling, Sharon Seah & more
Xi Jinping traveled to Southeast Asia last month to attend the G20 summit in Bali before moving on to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ meeting in Bangkok. The meetings came on the heels of Premier Li Keqiang’s...

Conversation

12.28.21

Three Questions for China’s Neighbors

Richard J. Heydarian, Nirupama Rao & more
“China was, is, and will always be a good neighbor,” China’s leader Xi Jinping told ASEAN representatives in a November 2021 virtual meeting, after a series of conflicts over Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea had raised tensions...

Viewpoint

02.22.19

‘We’re Very Sexy People’: How the U.S. Miscalculated Its Allure to China

Sergey Radchenko
The Sino-Vietnamese War is rarely remembered or discussed today. But 40 years ago, the war appeared to herald a tectonic shift in regional and global politics and helped forge a close, more trusting relationship between the leader of the free world...

China Unhappy with US Aircraft Carrier’s Visit to Vietnam, State Media Says

South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
Beijing is unhappy with the visit of a US aircraft carrier to a Vietnamese port, the first by such a vessel since the Vietnam war, and is monitoring developments, according to a state newspaper report on Wednesday.

Trump Offers to Mediate on South China Sea

Steve Holland and Mai Nguyen
Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was prepared to mediate between claimants to the South China Sea, where five countries contest China’s sweeping claims to the busy waterway.

US Finds Unlikely Ally in Vietnam as a Former Partner Tilts to China

CNN
US President Donald Trump may have left China for the final leg of his Asia tour, but the specter of Beijing will loom large over his discussions with Southeast Asian nations on the issues dominating the region.

China and Vietnam, Best ‘Frenemies’ Forever

Forbes
You know those boyfriend-girlfriend relationships that break up, get back together, and break up again? Maybe the two viscerally don’t get along but need each other for some indispensable reason. That pattern describes ties between China and Vietnam...

Beijing Says It Peacefully Resolved a South China Sea Dispute with Vietnam

CNBC
China and Vietnam have reached an agreement on managing their dispute in the South China Sea through friendly talks, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday, following an ugly spat over the summer between the two communist neighbors.

China Brushes off Vietnam Protests over South China Sea Drills

Reuters
Reuters
China on Wednesday dismissed Vietnamese condemnation of its military live-fire exercises in the disputed South China Sea, saying it was acting within its sovereign rights.

South China Sea: Vietnam Takes Up Fight Against China

Gregory Poling
CNN
When it comes to the disputed waters of the South China Sea, Vietnam’s leaders must feel very lonely these days.Their fellow Southeast Asian claimants have either reversed course after years of escalating tensions with Beijing, or are...

China Cancels Military Meeting With Vietnam Over Territorial Dispute

Mike Ives
New York Times
Analysts, citing government sources, said that the Chinese delegation had unexpectedly cut short a trip to Vietnam after tempers flared during a closed-door discussion on disputed territories in the South China Sea.

Trump May Turn to Vietnam for Help on South China Sea

CNBC
On Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be the first ASEAN leader to visit the White House since President Donald Trump’s election and the U.S. may look to tap into the emerging market’s friction with China.

Risking Beijing’s Ire, Vietnam Begins Dredging on South China Sea Reef

Lincoln Feast and Greg Torode
Reuters
Activity visible on Ladd Reef in the Spratly Islands could anger Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the group and most of the resource-rich sea

Conversation

10.25.16

How Many U.S. Allies Can China Turn?

Zhang Baohui, Richard J. Heydarian & more
Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines since June, visited China this week and signaled his interest in shifting Manila’s allegiance away from Washington toward Beijing. While his predecessor sued China in an international court to contest...

China Asks Vietnam to Investigate Report of Defaced Passport

Washington Post
The incident comes at a time of high tensions in the region.

Vietnam TV Station Drops Chinese Drama Over South China Sea Dispute

My Pham
Reuters
The decision comes as several Chinese celebrities speak up against the The Hague’s ruling.

Top Chinese Envoy Visits Vietnam as South China Sea Tension Rises

Mai Nguyen and Martin Petty
Reuters
Yang Jiechi and Pham Binh Minh expressed a need for agreements that prevent rows from getting out of hand.

Vietnamese Fighter Jet Goes Missing Along South China Sea Coast

Martin Petty
Reuters
Jet goes missing 30-40 kilometers off the coast of Nghe An province....

China Says Better US-Vietnam Ties Must Not Threaten Beijing

Matthew Lee
Associated Press
China has underlying concerns that closer relations between the two would undermine its claims in South China Sea. 

Vietnam Seizes Chinese Vessel in South China Sea

Oliver Holmes
Guardian
Captain and two sailors detained amid escalation in territorial dispute between Hanoi and Beijing.

Conversation

02.02.16

How Close Was the Latest Close Call in the South China Sea?

Julian G. Ku, Feng Zhang & more
Had things in fact calmed down in recent weeks as the Chinese official press claimed, only to be stirred up again needlessly by another Freedom of Navigation sail by the U.S. Navy?

Viewpoint

01.08.16

The Storm Beneath the Calm: China’s Regional Relations in 2016

Yanmei Xie
On the surface, 2015 came to a close in a moment of relative tranquility after a turbulent year for China’s neighborhood. But the calm is misleading: the optics of regional diplomacy have become increasingly detached from the reality of the...

Vietnam Talks Trust With China, Invites Japanese Warship

MARTIN PETTY AND BEN BLANCHARD
Reuters
Vietnam agreed to build a "truly trustworthy" relationship with China on Friday during a visit to Hanoi by its President Xi Jinping.

Vietnam Accuses Chinese Vessel of Sinking Fishing Boat

Associated Press
Vietnam said that a Chinese vessel rammed into and sank one of its fishing boats near disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Ask The Vietnamese About War, And They Think China, Not The U.S.

Michael Sullivan
NPR
Vietnam's brief but bloody border war with China in 1979 left more than 50,000 dead.

Beijing Rejects Hanoi’s Legal Challenge on Spratly, Paracel Islands Disputes

Zuraidah Ibrahim and Kristine Kwok
South China Morning Post
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei dismissed the Vietnamese action on Thursday, describing its claims over the Spratly and Paracel islands—known in China as the Nansha and Xisha—as invalid.

China, Vietnam Say Want Lasting Solution to Sea Dispute

Mai Nguyen and Ben Blanchard
Reuters
The two countries have sought to patch up ties since their long-running row erupted in May, triggered by China's deployment a drilling rig in waters claimed by the communist neighbors.

Xi Eyes Mended China-Vietnam Ties

Xinhua
China and Vietnam will earnestly implement a basic guideline for the resolution of China-Vietnam maritime issues signed in October 2011.

In China’s Shadow, U.S. Courts Old Foe Vietnam

Jane Perlez
New York Times
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, courted Vietnam over the past several days.

Vietnam and China—Through a Border Darkly

Economist
Relations between two Communist neighbors are at their lowest point in decades.

Many Asian Nations Believe That a War With China Is Looming

David Stout
Time
A majority in the Asian countries polled in a new Pew study say they fear a looming military conflict with China.

Chinese Oil Rig Near Vietnam to Be Moved

Jane Perlez
New York Times
The China National Petroleum Corporation, a state-owned company, said the billion-dollar rig, known as HD 981, would be relocated to an area around the Qiongdongnan basin, closer to Hainan Island, a southern province of China, and apparently in...

Shadow of Brutal ’79 War Darkens Vietnam’s View of China Relations

Jane Perlez
New York Times
She was 14 when Chinese artillery fire echoed across the hills around her home in northern Vietnam, and hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers swarmed across the border.

Vietnam Vows Stand Against China as Sea Collisions Continue

John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen
Bloomberg
Vietnam accused Chinese ships of ramming one of its fishing boats yesterday, saying relations between the two countries have been “deeply damaged” by the their standoff over a disputed oil rig in the South China Sea.

Rigged: Comradely Relations Go From Bad to Worse

Economist
Vietnam and China share a long history of enmity—and of managing to patch things up when they go wrong. But their latest dispute is not running true to form.

Vietnam Says China Moving Rig; China Denies Sending Warships

Ho Binh Minh and Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Vietnam said on Wednesday a Chinese oil rig at the centre of an increasingly bitter territorial dispute appeared to be on the move again, as China denied Vietnamese accusations that it had sent warships to the scene.

Viewpoint

06.03.14

China’s Maritime Provocations

Susan Shirk
Last weekend I attended the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of Asian, European, and American defense and military officials and strategic experts in Singapore hosted by the London International Institute of Strategic Studies. China sent a...

Your 3-Letter Guide to the Latest News From China

James Fallows
Atlantic
Those three letters are B, A, and D.

Wide Support on Chinese Social Media for Boat Attack

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
After a Chinese fishing boat rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near a Chinese deep sea oil rig placed in waters contested by both countries, social media reaction appeared overwhelmingly supportive — even bellicose.

China Tensions Grow After Vietnamese Ship Sinks in Clash

Jane Perlez
New York Times
Hair-trigger tensions in the South China Sea escalated as China and Vietnam traded accusations over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the vicinity of a Chinese oil rig parked in disputed waters off Vietnam’s coast.

Vietnam PM Says Considering Legal Action Against China Over Disputed Waters

Rosemarie Francisco and Manuel Mogato
Reuters
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his government was considering various "defense options" against China, including legal action, following the deployment of a Chinese oil rig to South China Sea waters Hanoi also claims.

Media

05.20.14

Netizens Complain Chinese Government Was Slow to Respond to Violence in Vietnam

On May 18, Hong Lei, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said China “will suspend some of its plans for bilateral exchanges with Vietnam in response to the deadly violence against Chinese nationals in the country,” according to...

Up to 21 Dead as Anti-China Riots Spread in Vietnam

Nguyen Phuong Linh, Martin Petty,...
Reuters
The deaths occurred in rioting around Chinese factories that amount to one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbors fought a brief border war in 1979.

Anger Grows in Vietnam Over Dispute With China

Mike Ives and Thomas Fuller
New York Times
Thousands of workers rampaged through an industrial area in southern Vietnam in what reportedly began as protests against China’s stationing of an oil rig in disputed waters off of Vietnam’s coast.

Shoe Maker Yue Yuen Suspends Vietnam Production Amid Protests

Donny Kwok and Rachel Lee
Reuters
Vietnam accounts for about a third of Yue Yuen's global production capacity, which amounted to 313 million pairs of shoes last year.

Protestors Torch Factories in Southern Vietnam as China Protests Escalate

Euan McKirdy
CNN
Properties in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) I & II in Binh Duong were targeted by thousands of protesters demonstrating over China's deployment of an oil rig in disputed waters.

A Beijing Power Play in the South China Sea is Met with U.S. Inaction

Washington Post
With a $1 billion oil rig the size of a football field, China has literally laid down a new marker in its ambition to dominate the South China Sea, only weeks after Barack Obama's tour of the region.

Conversation

05.09.14

The China-Vietnam Standoff: How Will It End?

Daniel Kliman, Ely Ratner & more
Daniel Kliman:Five thousand miles from Ukraine, off the coast of Vietnam, China is taking a page from Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s playbook. Beijing’s recent placement of a huge oil drilling rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea leverages...

Rare Protest in Vietnam Raises Call to Curb China

Associated Press
An anti-China march in the Vietnamese capital on Sunday showed the domestic pressure the government faces when dealing with Beijing’s muscular approach to territorial claims in the South China Sea. 

Environment

08.12.71

North Vietnam and China: Reflections on a Visit

Martin Bernal
Early this year I went to Hanoi by way of China. After spending a week in Peking I went to North Vietnam for just over a month and then returned to China, where I stayed in Changsha and Canton for two weeks. Later I spent three and a half weeks in...