Chinese ‘monster’ ship keeps pressure on Vietnam’s oil fields

Khmer Circle: 

Anyone with even a passing interest in and knowledge of the region would point out that Vietnam itself couldn't care less about other states' territorial sovereignty or integrity, so it's ironic that it is seen as a victim of China. In fact, the area under threat - gas/oil fields - shown on the map here should be under Cambodia's jurisdiction given the fact that the Mekong Delta and the adjacent coastal sea waters have always fallen within Cambodia's historical territory.

Take a look at the off-shore Cambodian island of Koh Tral [renamed to "Phu Qoc" and under Vietnam's occupation today] is 15km from Cambodia's seaside town of Kep but 25km from Vietnam's mainland.

What goes around comes around, eh?  

NB:  "The earliest Cambodian references to Phú Quốc (known as Koh Tral) are found in royal documents dated 1615, however no one has offered compelling evidence that Khmers have ever had a substantial presence there, or that a state exercised authority. For many Khmers the case of Koh Tral is one of history imagined rather than remembered."  (Wikepedia).

-The Diplomat. 

&&&

NB: Do I have to till or settle on all my land space which I own/inherit and have been passed down to me from my ancestors since recorded time for it to be considered my property? In fact, even today despite growing human population Cambodia is still vastly under populated when compared to countries in the region, especially, Vietnam! Is the Mekong Delta - referred to as Kampuchea Krom or Lower Cambodia by Khmers - also a case of 'history imagined rather than remembered'?!!

The Jews [Zionists] and the Whites/Dutch of South Africa also claim that the lands they had come - by ships! - to settle on had not been previously occupied by people!! 

Note also that the Vietnamese claim Dak Dam [an area of around 40 sq.km in Mondulkiri province in north eastern Cambodia] as a part of Vietnam or use this as a distracting bargaining chip or leverage to pressure the Cambodian regime and critics alike to accept territorial concessions and encroachments elsewhere along the border at Cambodia's expense. Indeed, one of Cambodia's own border affairs ministers [trained in Vietnam, of all places!] pointed to the danger of losing Dak Dam in her defence of those perennial concessions. This is known in Khmer as sacrificing one’s flesh or limbs to satiate the hungry tiger! Of course, the Vietnamese would say they have ‘concrete historical evidence’ of Vietnamese settlement and presence in the area – as they have done throughout their history of violent territorial expansion - whilst the Cambodian state cannot offer any ‘compelling evidence’ to the same effect?       

History imagined indeed... by the victors and invaders, of course. 

^^^ 

The world’s largest coast guard vessel returns for a fresh patrol tour near Vanguard Bank in the South China Sea.

By RFA Staff
2024.02.22

 

 

CCG 5901 is the world’s largest coast guard vessel.

The South China Sea Chronicle Initiative

 

China Coast Guard ship 5901, known as “The Monster” for its size, has returned to the waters near Vanguard Bank in the South China Sea, where Vietnam has some important oil and gas fields.

The 12,000-ton CCG 5901, currently the world’s largest coast guard vessel, switched on its AIS, or automatic information system, on Feb. 20 near the bank, a known South China Sea flashpoint between Vietnam and China.

Data provided by the Marine Traffic website, which uses AIS signals to track ships, shows it is still at the location. 

While conducting “intrusive patrols among Vietnam’s offshore oil & gas fields,” the Chinese ship is being shadowed by Vietnam’s fisheries surveillance vessel Kiem Ngu 261, said Ray Powell, director of the U.S.-based SeaLight project, who was the first to spot it.

 

Vanguard Bank is located within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.  (Google Maps)

 

CCG 5901, previously carrying hull number 3901, left Sanya port in Hainan island on Feb. 14., 2024. 

Before that, it patrolled Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for almost a month at the end of 2023, and was replaced on 10 Jan. by another Chinese coast guard vessel – CCG 5402.

CCG 5402 has also conducted intrusive patrols into Indonesia and Malaysia’s EEZs over the past six weeks, according to Powell.

Normalizing China’s activities

“These patrols are a key component of China’s strategy to reinforce its expansive maritime claims in disputed waters,” wrote Gaute Friis, an analyst at the SeaLight project at Stanford University in California.

“By doing so, China aims to establish a continuous presence and gradually normalize its maritime activities in these areas.”

The Chinese “monster” ship is armed with heavy machine guns and also has a helicopter platform, as well as a hangar large enough to accommodate larger rotary wing aircraft.

Vanguard Bank, called Bai Tu Chinh in Vietnamese and Wan’an Tan in Chinese, is a submerged formation that lies entirely within Vietnam’s EEZ. 

Vietnam and some foreign partners carry out oil and gas exploration at the location, which plays an important role in Hanoi’s oil and gas development.

Law enforcement vessels from Vietnam and China confronted each other there in July 2019 in one of the worst maritime standoffs between them in the South China Sea in recent years.  

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.