Vietnam and China are talking about problems on the sea. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Here is the news. Please read it and I will say something after you finish reading.
Đàm phán Việt - Trung tập trung vào vấn đề trên biển
Phó thủ tướng Phạm Gia Khiêm, trong buổi tiếp Trưởng đoàn đàm phán cấp chính phủ Trung Quốc Vũ Đại Vĩ hôm nay nhấn mạnh rằng đàm phán về biên giới lãnh thổ giữa hai nước đã chuyển sang một giai đoạn mới, tập trung vào giải quyết vấn đề trên biển.
Phó thủ tướng Phạm Gia Khiêm nhấn mạnh, trong bối cảnh tình hình thế giới đang diễn biến phức tạp, Việt Nam - Trung Quốc cần tăng cường và đẩy mạnh hơn nữa sự hợp tác trên tất cả các lĩnh vực, trước mắt cần phối hợp tổ chức tốt “Năm hữu nghị Việt - Trung 2010”.
Trưởng đoàn đàm phán cấp Chính phủ Trung Quốc Vũ Đại Vĩ đang ở Hà Nội để tiến hành cuộc gặp giữa hai Trưởng đoàn đàm phán cấp Chính phủ Việt Nam -Trung Quốc về biên giới lãnh thổ từ ngày 12 đến 14/8.
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| Phó Thủ tướng, Bộ trưởng Ngoại giao Phạm Gia Khiêm tiếp ông Vũ Đại Vĩ, Thứ trưởng Bộ Ngoại giao Trung Quốc. Ảnh: TTXVN. |
Phó thủ tướng Phạm Gia Khiêm đánh giá cao ý nghĩa của việc hai nước hoàn thành công tác phân giới cắm mốc trên biên giới đất liền Việt - Trung, yêu cầu hai bên tiếp tục đẩy nhanh việc hoàn tất các văn bản pháp lý liên quan và công việc còn lại để sớm đưa Hiệp ước Biên giới trên đất liền Việt Nam - Trung Quốc thực sự đi vào cuộc sống, góp phần làm sâu sắc thêm mối quan hệ đối tác hợp tác chiến lược toàn diện giữa hai nước.
Về vấn đề trên biển, hai bên cần quán triệt những nhận thức chung giữa lãnh đạo cấp cao hai nước, nghiêm chỉnh tuân thủ Tuyên bố về cách ứng xử của các bên ở Biển Đông (DOC), tôn trọng luật pháp quốc tế, nhất là Công ước Luật biển 1982 của Liên hợp quốc; kiên trì hiệp thương hữu nghị, tìm kiếm giải pháp cơ bản, lâu dài cho vấn đề trên biển và duy trì hòa bình ổn định trên biển.
Phó thủ tướng Phạm Gia Khiêm ghi nhận phản hồi tích cực của phía Trung Quốc đối với các đề nghị của Việt Nam về việc xử lý vấn đề ngư dân và tàu cá Việt Nam bị bắt giữ theo tinh thần hữu nghị, nhân đạo và đề nghị các cơ quan hữu quan của Trung Quốc tiếp tục giải quyết các vấn đề còn lại.
Phó thủ tướng cảm ơn phía Trung Quốc đã có những biện pháp cứu trợ kịp thời đối với tàu “Hoàng Phương 02” và 10 thuyền viên trong cơn bão Goni ngày 8/8 vừa qua.
Thứ trưởng Vũ Đại Vĩ khẳng định Đảng, Chính phủ và nhân dân Trung Quốc luôn coi trọng quan hệ hữu nghị hợp tác với Việt Nam.
Thứ trưởng Vũ Đại Vĩ cho rằng cuộc đàm phán về biên giới lãnh thổ lần này giữa hai đoàn Trung Quốc - Việt Nam đã thu được kết quả tích cực và bày tỏ tin tưởng việc hai nước kịp thời xử lý các vấn đề nảy sinh trên biển và phối hợp tìm kiếm các giải pháp thỏa đáng cho vấn đề trên biển sẽ góp phần xứng đáng vào việc củng cố và tăng cường quan hệ đối tác, hợp tác chiến lược toàn diện giữa hai Đảng, hai nước.
Trước đó, Thứ trưởng Ngoại giao, Trưởng đoàn đàm phán cấp Chính phủ về biên giới lãnh thổ Việt Nam Hồ Xuân Sơn và Thứ trưởng, Trưởng đoàn Trung Quốc Vũ Đại Vĩ đã gặp tại Hà Nội.
Hai bên trao đổi các biện pháp đẩy nhanh việc hoàn tất Nghị định thư phân giới cắm mốc, Hiệp định về Quy chế quản lý biên giới, Hiệp định về quản lý cửa khẩu trên biên giới đất liền Việt Nam - Trung Quốc để ký kết trước cuối tháng 12/2009; đồng thời thúc đẩy xây dựng Hiệp định về cùng hợp tác khai thác, phát triển du lịch thác Bản Giốc và Hiệp định tàu thuyền đi lại tự do khu vực cửa sông Bắc Luân.
Về vấn đề trên biển, hai bên khẳng định quyết tâm thực hiện nghiêm túc các thỏa thuận liên quan của Lãnh đạo cấp cao hai nước; kiên trì đàm phán, hiệp thương hữu nghị tìm kiếm giải pháp cơ bản lâu dài cho vấn đề Biển Đông.
Hai bên nhất trí tiếp tục phát huy vai trò của các cơ chế hiện hành, thúc đẩy vững chắc đàm phán phân định và hợp tác cùng phát triển vùng biển ngoài cửa Vịnh Bắc Bộ; tích cực trao đổi về việc tiếp tục triển khai các lĩnh vực hợp tác như tìm kiếm cứu nạn trên biển, bảo vệ môi trường biển, dự báo sóng biển… Hai bên đồng ý xây dựng cơ chế thích hợp nhằm kịp thời xử lý các tranh chấp trên biển.
(Theo TTXVN)
The part I have marked with boldfaced type in the article is the quote from Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Gia Khiêm thanking China for "solving the issue related to arrested Vietnamese fishermen in the spririt of friendship and humanity." It really means that "We --China--arrested you guys because you guys violated our territory. Now, because you are our friend and because we are charitalbe, we let these guys go. But you guys still violated our territory." That is China's language.
Where is Vietnam's language? There is nothing to interpret that Vietnam does assert its territory the way China did.
Are we being dim-witted enough to allow China to outwit us in every step of the game?
These guys in the government get me nervous. We all need to keep a close eye on this China issue and make sure that this government will not agree to anything the People (us) doesn't want.
I have no problem with being in a brotherly spirit with China. And I promote a brotherly relationship with China. But we don't want to act dumb, in the face of clear aggressive signals from China and the submissive attitude of the Vietnamese government.
Have a great day!
Hoanh
I am very worried about the present problem between Vietnam and China. I, like all other Vietnamese, love every lands of my home country. I hope the governments of Vietnam and China will solve this problem properly and fairly.
ReplyDeleteHere is China's strategy:
ReplyDelete1. China doesn't want a multilateral talk with all the nations involved in the Truong Sa and Hoang Sa disputes. It maintains this policy publicly over the year.
2. China only talks with each country individually (so that it can lấy thịt đè người).
3. China deals with Vietnam by giving Vietnam a series of prominent slaps on the face--arresting Vietnamese citizens, not just once but a series, so that everyone in the world understands the clarity of the message, no guessing or misunderstanding.
4. And then China released the arresting citizens for humanitarian reasons, i.e., "That is just a warning, brother. Next time, it is not going to be a slap."
And what has the Vietnamese government done? Nothing that anyone can see.
Here is the point: Of course, China would have to release these fishermen, because China would have had a big international issue with the world community, had Vietnam brought the matter to the UN and the world community.
So no one had to do anything, China would sill release these fishermen. The government of Vietnam cannot claim any credit for doing nothing.
The question is: What has the government of Vietnam done to prevent further aggression by China, and make sure that China has to think twice before slapping a Vietnamese citizen?
Can anyone give me an honest answer?
Are we confident that this government is strong enough to stand up to China (or any country for that matter) to protect Vietnamese citizens and the land of Vietnam?
What Vietnam should do is doing exactly what China fears most--Use collective strength. Use the UN and the world community. Use multilateral talks. Stand up, stay firm, and get the world on our side. All you have to do is fight back against aggression and ask the world for support. And the world will support, because most countries of the world don't like aggressor.
Then we can negotiate with China as an equal.
But the Vietnamese government is doing exactly what China wants it to do: 1. Talking with China in bilateral talks, and 2. being nice and obedient as an abused wife.
I don't think this government is intelligent enough to do political battle in international politics. It has demonstrated a very low level of sophistication in world politics. And a very low level of courage in world competition.
This is very dangerous for Vietnam, in a world of fierce competition, politically and economically.
well, this's a difficult topic to understand, i don't understand about "China deals with Vietnam by giving Vietnam a series of prominent slaps on the face–arresting Vietnamese citizens" clearly.
ReplyDeleteAbout the question what should Vietnam do, i agree with you that we should ask the world for support, I also think that the world will support. This will put a pressure on China.
About Vietnam's government, i think that it's in fear of losing the good communion with China, so they don't want to have a fierce talks with China. It's just my opinion, because i don't know lots of politics and what our government think, so can you explain why do you think that our government is nice and obedient ??
Hi Nguyên,
ReplyDeleteThis matter is much easier to understand than you think:
1. In school if you are small and if you have a bully slapping you once in a while, what should you do?
If you are a good student, and you don't want to fight back and you don't have enough muscle to fight back yet, then you should tell the school principal and all the teachers about that, so that they know the problem and help you solve it.
Many students do not do that because they are afraid if they tell, the bully will get angry and beat them more. So they keep quiet and be nice with the bully and try to live with the bully's mercy instead.
And that is how bullies become strong, and weaker students live a life of second class. And in some cases on the newspaper, the weaker students have to give the bully what he wants, including money, every day for years.
2. China's capturing Vietnamese citizens is not for fun. It is not because China hates Vietnam. But, it is a LEGAL and PR move (PR = public relations).
It is for China to tell the WORLD that "this (water by Hoang Sa) is our water and we arrest whoever come in without our permission."
Vietnam should have told China and the WORLD: "This is our water and China is acting illegally and is violating our sovereignty and capturing our citizens illegally."
Vietnam did not do that. (And that is "nice and obedient" to China).
So later if Vietnam and China go to the world court on Hoang Sa, China can tell the court: "We acted like the owner of the area. We arrested their citizens in that area. And they didn't say a word that we did anything wrong or that they owned the area."
This is a big piece of EVIDENCE in court.
Even if no one goes to court, the WORLD would think that China owns Hoang Sa. Because China arrested Vietnamese citizens, and the Vietnamese government did not protest (so that the entire world could hear): "They violated our territory and arrested our citizens illegally."
And if the WORLD is thinking that China owns Hoang Sa, Vietnam has big problem. No one will do anything with Vietnam about Hoang Sa because "That is China's land." We will lose it just because people think we don't own it.
And if We, Vietnam, protest firmly, we still have good communications with China, like: "Vietnam protests that China has violated Vietnam's territory and sovereignty and has captured Vietnamese citizens illegally. We demand unconditional release of these citizens and demand that Chinese vessels stay clear of our waters."
(Note: China captures Vietnam citizens many times, not fearing of losing "good communications" with Vietnam. Why? Probably because China knew whatever it did, Vietnam would try to be extra nice and sweet to it anyway. This is nothing new. This is bully's psychology, even every non-psychologist knows that.
But this is MORE THAN bullying, this is a very intelligent legal and PR maneuver. It is intelligent enough to calculate that the Vietnam government cannot see the real strategic meaning of the move).
A CLEAR and FIRM protest from Vietnam was needed to inform the world and to "put evidence on the record" that "Vietnam claims ownership and acts like a rightful owner." You don't do that you lose your case. It is not a matter of choice.
* And, Nguyen, you have done a very good job by asking.
When it comes to our land and our people being captured by a foreign power, none of us has the right to say "It is too difficult for me to understand." Understand it. Period. Even for a 5-year child.
If we don't understand, ask someone, until we understand. Understanding this kind of matter is a duty each of us owes our nation.
Thank you for asking little brother :-)
Good day :-)
Well, it's easier said than done!
ReplyDeleteThe issue of sovereignty dispute over waters and islands in the East Sea is not as simple as yelling out loud: "Hey comon, these are our territories, and the world must stand by us against those violators".
Arrest doesn't just happen to Vietnamese fishermen but it happens to fishermen of every single country in the region when they happen to enter the waters claimed by other countries.
In the case of Quang Ngai fishermen in last August, the Government of Viet Nam did publicly re-affirm the sovereignty of Viet Nam in the East Sea including its legal rights over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also sent its urgent note to request the Chinese authority to release immediately and unconditionally those Vietnamese fishermen as the Chinese authority had acted illegally in our waters. At the moment the Government of Viet Nam is not proudly over-talking about its credit for bringing those fishermen back home because it is its duty as a government.
On the one hand, the Government of Viet Nam keeps re-affirming our sovereignty and protesting the Chinese occupation of our territories in the East Sea; but on the other hand, under the real threat of the Chinese armed forces, the Government of Viet Nam protects its fishermen in the East Sea by giving out instruction as how they can continue their work without being captured again and how they can ask for help immediately if something happens.
Every time when the spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affair is asked about Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, we only have one determined and consistent answer: "Hoang Sa and Truong Sa are parts of Vietnamese territory, we strongly protest any illegal violation against Vietnamese sovereignty over our islands and waters ..."
Every one knows that we need multilateral talks on the East Sea issue, but the problem is China always refuses to do so.
So what should an "intelligent government" do? Raging a war against China. Of course not, it's a stupid way to go. Internationalizing the issue? Yes, we're slowly and steadily doing that. Why don't we speed it up? Because we don't want to provoke any "anger" from China when no one in this world gives a "sh...." on what's happening in the East Sea.
Do we need a good relation with China? Yes, we do. China is a big neighbour and it has gained a lot more power in recent years.
The wise ways to consolidate our sovereignty in the East Sea are to continue the bilateral talk with China, to steadily internationalizing the East Sea issue, and to strongly improve our armed forces.
The Government of Viet Nam has never denounced our sovereignty in the East Sea and will never do that.
Dear Brother Đức,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good presentation. You are right, the government of Vietnam has done all that. But not with enough intensity so that the world knows what is going on. More importantly, most Vietnamese citizens don't even see them. In general they see very much a quiet, mumbling government.
I would say, the Vietnamese government needs to crank up its volume about 10 times. Mumbling doesn't count much in a conflict.
And I would say, its ability to internationalize the issue is very weak. Not good enough. It can do a lot more politically with the world's institutions.
And if the government doesn't make the population believe strongly that it is willing to stand up for its citizens, it will lose its own population, which is a more serious problem than China.
Have a great day! :-)
Hoanh