Phisgoc sea games

China’s state-run Global Times on April 11 said the Liaoning steamed into the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, after completing a week of naval exercises around Taiwan. This happened after a U.S. Navy expeditionary strike group fronted by aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island conducted exercises in the area a day earlier. The two flat-top warships were joined by a cruiser, destroyers and smaller amphibious ships, the CNN reported.

“The present deployment of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier is part of an established pattern of action-reaction by the two rivals,” said Carlyle Thayer, Emeritus Professor, University of New South Wales Canberra at the Australian Defense Force Academy.

The U.S. Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group in the South China Sea in April 2021. Photo by U.S. Navy.

Thayer said that for many years, China has been developing what the Pentagon terms A2AD capabilities (Anti-Access Area Denial) in the first island chain stretching from Japan to the Philippines. The U.S., for its part, seeks to demonstrate to allies, security partners and other regional states that the East Sea is not an “exclusive Chinese lake.”

He said the moves are not new, the deployment of two aircraft carriers at the same time repeats the pattern witnessed last year when the U.S. deployed three Carrier Strike Groups and China dispatched the Liaoning. China has also based its second aircraft carrier Shandon at Sanya on Hainan Island.

Collin Koh Swee Lean, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, also said this posturing and counter posturing wasn’t new. It’s been part of the series of such developments in the East Sea and across regional waters over the recent years.

“Tensions continue to spike between China and the U.S. over the East Sea and Taiwan,” he said.

For the Americans, clearly the aim is to assert a continued hard line on China’s provocations against Taiwan and coercive activities in the East Sea, especially where it concerns the Whitsun Reef incident.

The reef is located within the territorial waters of the Grierson Reef, part of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands. The Philippines, among other countries, has recently voiced opposition to more than 200 Chinese vessels being illegally anchored at the reef. The fact that they are not catching fish despite good weather conditions makes their presence more dubious and suspicious, observers have said.

For its part, Vietnam has said it was closely monitoring the situation in order to protect and assert the nation’s sovereignty and sovereignty rights over sea areas in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Koh sees the U.S. action as demonstrating continued security commitment towards the region, and perhaps more pertinently, to demonstrate the commitment that in the face of a growing People’s Liberation Army challenge. For the Chinese, it’s meant to signal resolve that Beijing won’t be browbeaten by the Americans. Koh noted that people have to look at this in this year’s special context, revolving around the 100th anniversary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“It’s important to demonstrate to the domestic audience that the Party carries political legitimacy and would safeguard China’s core interests.”

Carl Schuster, a visiting professor at the Hawaii Pacific University, said the China’s carrier was in the East Sea to complete its annual crew and strike group training program before releasing the conscripts in May. Beijing will claim it is a response to the American carrier’s exercises there. Meanwhile, the U.S. carrier strike group exercises were in response to China’s bullying in the East Sea. The U.S. Navy transiting through the Taiwan Strait and exercises south of Taiwan were to show the U.S. was backing Taiwan as well.

Peter Layton, visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia, thinks that the PLA Navy is exercising its forces. Meanwhile, for the U.S., the timing is also important given that the Biden Administration has only recently gained office and so wishes to demonstrate its support both for the Philippines and for ASEAN.

The risks involved

Thayer said China’s dispatch of its aircraft carrier sends signals to a domestic audience, regional states and the U.S. that China will defend its sovereignty claims in the East Sea and is not intimidated by the U.S. Navy. At the same time, the U.S is signaling mainly to China and regional states that it remains committed to preserving security and stability in the East Sea and was likewise not intimidated by the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

However, the risk of a confrontation between the two opposing carrier groups is slight, with both sides well aware of the other side’s prowess.

“The greater risk is miscalculation about the intentions of aircraft and or helicopters launched from one of the carriers by the other side.”

According to Koh, the interactions between the American and Chinese naval forces is likely to remain professional.

However, while operating in close proximity to each other at a politically tense time, the risk of accidental or inadvertent encounters between these forces cannot be discounted.

However, Koh added, “At such times we can assume both Beijing and Washington have no stomach for a fight, despite the military posturing and counter posturing, and they’ll seek to keep these activities from hitting the conflict threshold.”

Schuster also said that the risks are minimal, though they exist. He said the forces were not operating in close proximity and both militaries are well disciplined. The U.S. and China are watching each other closely but their respective ship’s weapons are directly under each captain’s control, therefore “these are not inexperienced soldiers with rifles in their hands.”

Naval units operate in a visual range of other navies on a regular basis and no weapon moves without the captain’s knowledge.

Layton cautioned that while he saw no sinister intent this time, the exercise the Liaoning was undertaking and those of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force large air packages exercising near Taiwan in early April are the kinds of military activities that would be engaged in right before any Chinese military operation to capture the Patras Island.

He said there were clear risks seen in the Whitsun Reef incident. In a small area, there were several ships involved including the people’s armed militia, Chinese coast guard ships, nearby PLA Navy vessels and U.S forces. The main flashpoint might be the people’s armed militia who are less likely to be under direct command of the Central Military Commission. The PLA Navy and Chinese Coast Guard will be tightly controlled and unlikely to deliberately provoke U.S. forces, even though they may try and irritate U.S. ships by sailing close and maneuvering around them.

Despite not competing internationally since March last year, Vietnam moved from 34th to 33rd with 1,657 points, as the Replublic of Ireland dropped from 31st to 34th after losing two consecutive matches to Belgium and Denmark in Women’s Euro qualifiers.

The last international game Vietnam women’s team played was on March 11, 2020 when they lost 1-2 against Australia, sealing their exit from Olympic qualifers. This was the first time Vietnam had scored against Australia after eight games played over 12 years.

Right above Vietnam on the rankings are Wales with 1,658.19 points and Ukraine with 1,661.41 points.

Vietnam are still the number one team in Southeast Asia, followed by Thailand and Myanmar. In Asia, the team are sixth, below Australia, North Korea, Japan, China and South Korea.

The world’s top five team are still the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, France and Sweden.

Vietnam Football Federation aims to see the team qualify for Women’s World Cup 2023 hosted in New Zealand and Australia. With FIFA increasing the number of teams in the tournament from 24 to 32, opportunities have opened for many teams, including Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam were only one game away from World Cup but lost to Thailand in the final play-off.

Eight countries to directly qualify for the 2023 World Cup will be decided after the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, with the country finishing ninth to enter the play-off against a team from another region.

Authorities in Kien Giang told an online meeting with the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control on Friday there had been days when the province had received up to 10 people returning from Cambodia, with all testing positive for the new coronavirus.

Now, medical centers across the province no longer have the capacity to handle more Covid-19 patients.

The province shares a borderline of 56 kilometers (34.8 miles) and 62,000 square kilometers of sea area with Cambodia.

Daily, thousands of fishing vessels and boats trading oil and seafood operate across this maritime area, with managing entry a hard task, a provincial representative stated.

With the ongoing outbreak in Cambodia, the province suggested the Ministry of Health establishes a field hospital for Covid-19 treatment in the beach town of Ha Tien, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

In response to the proposal, Nguyen Trong Khoa, deputy head of the Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department under the Ministry of Health, told the province to set up field hospitals using schools, dormitories or sports centers.

Cambodia imposed a coronavirus lockdown on its capital Phnom Penh on Thursday in a bid to contain a spike in cases. The country recorded 291 new infections on Saturday, pushing its tally to 5,771.

In a voice message posted on his official Facebook page, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned Cambodia was on the brink of “death valley” and urged people to work together to avoid calamity.

Heath Minister Nguyen Thanh Long told an online meeting Friday the border area with Cambodia, including Mekong Delta provinces, are now “major hotspots” at high risk of possible Covid-19 outbreaks.

Vietnam’s border with Cambodia spans 1,137 kilometers, including the four Mekong Delta provinces An Giang, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and Long An. Other Vietnamese provinces bordering Cambodia are Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh which are near Ho Chi Minh City, and Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Dak Nong in the Central Highlands.

On Tuesday, border guards in An Giang Province detected a man and woman breaking into Vietnam illegally from Cambodia.

Both later tested positive, prompting authorities to track down all those that had come into contact with the pair since they set foot in Vietnam.

By Saturday morning, it has been confirmed 12 people who had direct contact with them have tested negative.

Last month, Vietnam had suffered a spate of infections after a group of Vietnamese returned home illegally from Cambodia on a boat trip to Kien Giang’s Phu Quoc Island.

Many Vietnamese reside and do business in Cambodia, with many found infected with the novel coronavirus here over the past months.

While Vietnam has sealed its borders, there are occasional illegal entrants who evade checkpoints to avoid mandatory quarantine.

As per Health Ministry protocol, all those entering the nation from abroad must be quarantined for 14 days, during which they will be tested at least twice.

Vietnam has gone over two months without community transmissions.

Hanoi (VNA) – Under Vietnam’s fisheries development strategy to 2030 and vision to 2045, the fisheries sector is applying itself to become an important sector in the country, strongly integrate into the world, develop sustainably and responsibly, and proactively adapt to climate change .

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that after continually posting rapid growth, the fisheries sector now has considerable production scale and value along with many products earning annual export turnover in excess of 1 billion USD.

Its product structure has changed strongly towards higher proportions of aquaculture and products with high added value, he noted, adding that aquatic products have been exported to about 160 countries and territories, in particular the EU, Japan, the US, the Republic of Korea, and Russia.

The presence of Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen on the country’s seas has also greatly helped safeguard maritime sovereignty and security. The fisheries sector now provides jobs for about 3.9 million people, thus contributing to agricultural restructuring, according to Tien.

However, he acknowledged, there remain many problems facing the sector, which has yet to fully tap into its potential and advantages.

It is looking to earn 14-16 billion USD from exports and establish itself as a key national sector with sustainable development and proactive adaptation to climate change by 2030. Vietnam also targets becoming one of the three leading fisheries producers and exporters in the world by 2045.

Tran Dinh Luan, General Director of the Directorate of Fisheries, recommended localities re-organise production, exercise sound control over inputs, issue timely warnings on disease in farmed species, and boost technology transfer, which are both short and long-term tasks.

He also called on relevant agencies to immediately pay due regard to the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, noting that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has requested relevant sectors and localities soon complete steering boards on anti-IUU fishing and send members to the national steering committee so as to take uniform action to carry out recommendations from the European Commission, which has issued a “yellow card” warning on the issue to Vietnam.

Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that to achieve set targets, the fisheries sector should take concerted solutions such as reducing the number of inshore fishing vessels, increasing offshore fishing fleets, gradually downsizing exploitation, boosting aquaculture, and stepping up the conservation, recovery, and development of fisheries resources./.

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Bui Minh Chau joined other delegates to offered incense to Father Lac Long Quan at his temple on Sim Mountain in the Hung Kings Relic Site.

The delegates expressed their gratitude to the nation’s legendary father while vowing to promote solidarity and exert every effort towards the nation’s construction and defence in a bid to build a peaceful, prosperous and developed Vietnam.

The local leaders then offered incense and flowers to express their gratefulness to Mother Au Co at her temple on Van Mountain.

The ceremony is the most important ritual among a series of activities held annually in Phu Tho Province to pay tribute to the legendary founders of the nation and commemorate the death anniversary of Hung Kings, which falls on the tenth day of the third lunar month.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan married Au Co, who gave birth to a sack of 100 eggs which later hatched into 100 sons.

Lac Long Quan took 50 sons to the sea and Au Co took 49 to the mountains to expand the territory, while the eldest son was crowned as the first Hung King, who named the country Van Lang and established the capital in Phong Chau, present-day Phu Tho.