After Senkaku dispute, China-Vietnam crisis looms in South China Sea
Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Two Chinese patrol boats that had been patrolling the Senkaku Islands since 24 September left for their homeport. They had been sent to prevent Japanese Coast Guard boats from intercepting Chinese fishing trawlers. Both China and Japan claim the archipelago, but in recent days have tried to reduce tensions over the matter. The same cannot be said about China and Vietnam. Hanoi today officially called on Chinese authorities to release the crew of a Vietnamese trawler seized by the Chinese Navy on 11 September for fishing near the Paracel Islands.
The departure of the two Chinese vessels, which the Japanese Coast Guard monitored on radar, appears to be an attempt to restore normal relations. Beijing had issued an official protest for the arrest on 8 September of the captain of a Chinese trawler that was fishing in the waters of the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu for the Chinese).
This was followed by an escalation of retaliatory measures that culminated in China’s decision to impose an embargo on sales of global rare-earths, of which it controls 95 per cent. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used in weapons, hybrid vehicles and laptop computers.
The captain’s release did not settle the issue however. In Japan, it drew fire from Japanese nationalist circles on Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan for giving in to Chinese pressures.
Japanese sources said that a brief meeting between Kan and Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe summit in Brussels on Monday broke the ice after almost a month-long row. Both leaders reiterated their desire not to damage relations over the islands. In fact, last year, Japan sold 10.2 trillion yen (2 billion) worth of goods and services to China.
In addition, Japan, which favour of international arbitration, has called on China not to start developing the Shirakaba (Chunxiao in Chinese) natural gas field in the East China Sea.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has called on China to release “immediately” and “unconditionally” a fishing boat and nine crewmembers seized last month near the Paracel Islands, which both countries claim.
China has held the fishermen since 11 September and has said that it would not release them until they pay a fine for fishing with explosives, a claim Vietnam denies.
These tensions are raising the stakes ahead of next week’s ASEAN meeting, which will be attended by China, Japan and the United States, as well as India, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and Russia
The South China Sea covers an area of 3.5 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) stretching from Singapore to the Straits of Taiwan. It is the source of several territorial disputes.
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