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Vietnamese Complain As Chinese 3G Comes to Disputed Spratly Islands
Tech In Asia ^ | 7 January 2013 | Anh-Minh Do

Posted on 01/07/2013 6:52:37 AM PST by Army Air Corps

In the ongoing dispute over the Spratly Islands claimed by China and Vietnam, the latest development is that China is opening up 3G services on the islands, not only to Chinese soldiers but also for the country’s fishermen.

The development will be yet another drop of lemon in the souring of Sino-Vietnamese relations in the past year. The Vietnamese government even voiced its complaint on nguyentandung.org, the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s website. The island disputes recently ignited with anti-China protests in May 2011 after Chinese patrol boats attacked two Vietnamese oil exploration ships near the Spratly Islands.

Chinese soldiers and fishermen will now be able to text message, call, and chat online with family back home over the new 3G network. This upgrade to 3G from regular cellular coverage (started in 2011) and the recent 3G network in the disputed Paracel Islands in July 2012 signals a more permanent Chinese presence on the rocky outposts.

Amid China’s escalating 3G and infrastructure support for the islands, and other points of contention between the two neighbors, my question is this: Have Vietnamese telcos provided 3G to Vietnamese citizens living on those same islands? If not, Vietnam is falling behind in the race for an administrative claim over the islands. Vietnam has had cellular coverage on the Spratly Islands since 2006 but word on the street is there’s no 3G yet.

This news comes just a couple of weeks after a Chinese computer game was banned in Vietnam for showing the contested islands as being Chinese in the in-game maps.

The Spratly Islands are claimed by six different countries in total, including Brunei, the People’s Republic of China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; spratleyislands; vietnam

1 posted on 01/07/2013 6:52:51 AM PST by Army Air Corps
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To: TigersEye

Pei Ping


2 posted on 01/07/2013 7:01:11 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Army Air Corps

After defeating the USA—polishing off China should be a piece of cake for Vietnam. Maybe they could get some Chinese Actors to march in the streets for Vietnamese rights or start protests at the Chinese Universities? They won the war—let them fight this one by themselves! I put my money on Red China. They thought we were bad—just wait til you see the Han Chinese Boys in action! Vietnam better just suck it up and give up on those islands—they are now part of the new Chinese Empire.


3 posted on 01/07/2013 8:40:15 AM PST by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

Viet Nam and China have a long, bloody history together. The Sino-Vietnamese War (Third Indochione War) was a more recent chapter in the story.


4 posted on 01/07/2013 8:58:14 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: ThanhPhero

FYI ping.


5 posted on 01/07/2013 8:58:58 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Army Air Corps

Indochione = Indochinese


6 posted on 01/07/2013 8:59:59 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

Charlie tried to stick their lot with the Soviets......ooops, that didn’t work out too well for them.


7 posted on 01/07/2013 9:00:50 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Army Air Corps

8 posted on 01/07/2013 9:29:01 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

Because of the treaty we signed with them to end the war, I don’t think we’re allowed to involve ourselves militarily anyway. Unless they find some other country to help them, they’d be on their own.


9 posted on 01/07/2013 9:38:18 AM PST by virgil
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

Also, the issue involves more than *just* the PRC and the SRVN; the area has several overlapping claims.


10 posted on 01/07/2013 9:40:40 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: thackney

Thanks for adding the map.


11 posted on 01/07/2013 9:42:12 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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