US Again Patrols Near Chinese Survey Ship In South China Sea

Radio Free Asia ^ | 2020-07-02 | Drake Long

[Zhang Fei]

An American Navy combat ship this week conducted “routine operations” near a Chinese geological survey ship in the South China Sea.

The maneuvers in waters around the Spratly Islands echoed events off the north coast of Malaysian Borneo in April, when a Chinese survey vessel and a fleet of China Coast Guard (CCG) ships shadowed Malaysian oil exploration efforts, in an apparent bid to deter the smaller nation from exploiting resources in the disputed waters.

“The Chinese Communist Party must end its pattern of bullying Southeast Asians out of offshore oil, gas, and fisheries. Millions of people in the region depend on those resources for their livelihood,” said Adm. John Aquilino.

The West Capella suspended its operations early on May 12, and the Hai Yang 8 left shortly after.

China maintains that any resource exploration in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, must be done with Chinese partners instead of international companies. Beijing has also taken this position during negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create a Code of Conduct for governing behavior in the sea’s disputed waters.

On June 13, Spanish company Repsol ceded its stakes in three Vietnamese oil blocks to the state-run oil company, PetroVietnam, citing its inability to work under conditions of a territorial conflict, according to Archyde, a Spanish oil and gas blog. Repsol halted work in those blocks in 2018 due to Chinese pressure.

Two days earlier, Vietnamese state media announced that U.S. company ExxonMobil would invest in Vietnam’s energy sector, after a phone call between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and ExxonMobil senior executive Irtiza Sayyed. Daniel Kritenbrink, the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam reportedly told VnExpress on June 23 that the U.S. would support commercial energy projects between U.S. companies and Vietnam.

[Zhang Fei]

It appears that the only companies drilling in the South China Sea, apart from Chinese ones, will be US companies backed up by the Pacific Fleet.

[cba123]

Interesting.

Go Vietnam, er go America, go go go.

Whomever is doing the heavy lifting.

:)

[rintintin]

It would be nice if we could maintain peace and order in the United States. But I guess if not, playing policeman in other parts of the world will have to do.

[Zhang Fei]

[It would be nice if we could maintain peace and order in the United States. But I guess if not, playing policeman in other parts of the world will have to do.]

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Our problem stateside has nothing to do with resources. We have salaried manpower in excess. The issue is Democratic governors and mayors who won’t enforce the law. It’s also Democratic prosecutors who prosecute officials or civilians who attempt to defend themselves from arsonists and looters. In a different kind of political system, we could round them up and put them in the ground. Of course, in that political system, maybe they could round us up and put us in the ground.