South China Sea tensions at new high after Vietnamese boat rammed and sunk by Chinese vessel

Hanoi Vietnam’s government claims that a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

The fishing boat was around 370 kilometres off Da Nang near Discovery Reef in the Paracel island chain on Wednesday when it was rammed by a Chinese vessel, the National Committee for Incident, Natural Disaster Response and Search and Rescue said in a statement.

The five Vietnamese men on board the fishing boat clung on to the sinking bow until they were rescued, the statement said.

Vietnam’s government and state media have previously accused Chinese vessels of attacking Vietnamese fishing boats.

In April and May, more than 10 Vietnamese fishing boats were allegedly hit and robbed while fishing in the South China Sea, according to Vietnam’s Tuoi Tre newspaper.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including waters internationally recognised as Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone where Vietnam has sole fishing rights.

Greg Poling, a fellow with the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, slammed China over the incident.

“A Chinese ship reportedly rams and sinks a Vietnamese fishing boat in the Paracels (again),” he said on Twitter.

"Does the current Viet generation have the stones to take on the Chicom tiger?"

I remember that 70's episode. Battle hardened Vietnamese troops fought Chinese troops and massacred them. China claimed it taught the Vietnamese a lesson. What a hoot!

I don't think Vietnam can match China at this point in offensive sea power. All the Vietnamese can do is complain while China bullies everyone in the area.

As for land forces, it's been 40 years since the end of the war. I'm skeptical of the present fighting ability of the Vietnamese in terms of a broad based conflict. If it comes to that, maybe they can turn to their former allies in Russia and the former eastern communist bloc. And maybe they can ask the United States to send a few advisers.

[I remember that 70’s episode. Battle hardened Vietnamese troops fought Chinese troops and massacred them. China claimed it taught the Vietnamese a lesson. What a hoot!]

Unfortunately, that’s not actually what happened. The Chinese exterminated a Vietnamese division equipped with the latest Soviet gear, and massacred 100K civilians. If the Soviets hadn’t stood ready to attack China if it went beyond a border incursion, it’s possible that China might have overrun all of Vietnam.
https://www.historynet.com/war-of-the-dragons-the-sino-vietnamese-war-1979.htm
https://www.quora.com/If-guerrilla-warfare-is-so-hard-to-beat-why-didnt-more-countries-militaries-revert-to-guerilla-tactics-when-they-were-on-the-verge-of-defeat/answer/Yifeng-Huang-8

Good post:

https://www.quora.com/If-guerrilla-warfare-is-so-hard-to-beat-why-didnt-more-countries-militaries-revert-to-guerilla-tactics-when-they-were-on-the-verge-of-defeat/answer/Yifeng-Huang-8

" Guerilla warfare can be easily defeated if the attackers are resolute.

Genghis Khan, probably the greatest conquerer ever, never had a problem with guerilla warfare, even though the lands he conquered included Afghanistan. Why? Because his army simply slaughter all civilians, including their babies, who dare to fight against them.

In the Vietnam war, the Americans struggled against the Vietcongs. When China fought Vietnam, China simply romped through North Vietnam (north of Hanoi), transport removable factories/infrastructure back to China while destroying those that they cannot bring back. One crack Vietnamese division that was rushed back from Cambodia wisely decided to settle into prepared defensive positions near Hanoi instead of reinforcing the surrounded troops north of Hanoi. Why didn't China has problem with Vietcong guerilla fighters?

When I first visited China in the 1990s, a retired veteran bitterly told me that his Major was killed by a ~6 year old Vietnamese kid holding a secret pistol when he was giving out food to the kid. Apparently, this is not an isolated incident. Very soon, they enacted Genghis Khan’s strategy. North Vietnamese villagers encountered were simply labeled as “civilian militia”, treated as combatants and showed no mercy. PLA never encounter anymore guerilla problems because there were no civilians left to provide the guerilla with information, shelter and food!

In the 1980s, there is no internet and no international reporter who has access to report on this. Chinese body counts, which included “civilian militia combatants”, concluded that enemy casualties were in excess of 10 times PLA losses."

Which, IMHO, makes our 2A even more important.

The PLA had very little offensive capability I the late-70’s when the Sino-Vietnamese border war took place. The best NVA forces were off fighting I Cambodia and only regional militia troops defended Hanoi. They did a remarkable job. But Premier Deng Xiopeng was a crafty dude. He knew there was a good chance the PLA would get mauled, but he wanted to make a point that the PLA needed to modernize. For him the border war was “Heads I win, tails you lose.”

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