South China Sea: Vietnam Seeks Talks on Paracel Islands Dispute

South China Morning Post

30 September 2020

This article also appeared in Yahoo News.

As Beijing continued military drills near the Paracel Islands – which both China and Vietnam claim – president of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong suggested to Chinese president Xi Jinping the two countries should “work together to address their existing problems, especially on maritime issues”, according to Vietnamese communist party newspaper Nhan Dan. Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the RSIS in Singapore, said mixing military might with diplomatic gestures was typical of China’s approach to sea disputes with its neighbours. “China is backing up talk with muscle flexing just to press home the point to Vietnam that it’s being outgunned and there’s nothing in Hanoi’s interest to try to do anything,” Koh said.

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