World View: Thousands of Violent Vietnamese Protesters Torch Chinese Businesses

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• In a new escalation, China builds airstrip on Philippines reef
• Thousands of violent Vietnamese protesters torch Chinese businesses
• Cyberwar between China and Vietnam may be breaking out

In a new escalation, China builds airstrip on Philippines reef

Anti-Chinese protesters in Vietnam (AFP)

China appears to be building an airstrip on the Mabini Reef, a regionin the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines as part of itsexclusive economic zone. This is the next step in China’sthe South China Sea that have historically belonged to Vietnam,Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, often for centuries.China has indicated that it intends to annex the entire South ChinaSea, and Chinese media indicates that the purpose of thesalami-slicing strategy is to annex the other countries’ one smallpiece at a time, so that the U.S. will not be provoked intointervening. The Philippines government has protested the annexationof Philippines territory, but China’s foreign minister scoffedat the protest, saying,

“Whatever construction China carries out on the reefis a matter entirely within the scope of China’s sovereignty. Idon’t know what particular intentions the Philippines has incaring so much about this.”

GMA News (Philippines) and Interaksyon

Thousands of violent Vietnamese protesters torch Chinese businesses

Thousands anti-Chinese protesters in Vietnam, furious over China’sinstallation of an oil rig in waters in the South China Seahistorically claimed by Vietnam, turned violent and torched a numberof factories in a southern Vietnam industrial park. It was Chinesefactories that were the nominal targets, but the angry mob alsoattacked properties owned Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.

The protests followed last week’s major naval confrontation betweenChina and Vietnam. Vietnam sent a flotilla of about 30 ships toblockade a mobile rig that China was installing in waters withinVietnam’s exclusive economic zone. China responded by sending 60ships to break the blockade. Vietnam has released video of Chineseships ramming the Vietnamese ships and spraying them with watercannons. ( “8-May-14 World View — China rams Vietnamese ships in the South China Sea”)

The Vietnamese protests earlier this week were non-violent, butviolence was triggered when China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was

“The Xisha (Paracel) Islands are China’s inherentterritory. The Chinese company’s normal operations fall withinChina’s sovereignty. China … has required the Vietnamese side totake all necessary measures to protect the safety and lawfulrights of Chinese citizens and institutions inVietnam.”

The Vietnamese government has forbidden anti-Chinese protests in thepast, for fear of antagonizing the Chinese. These growing protestsare apparently approved by the government, and therefore represent amajor policy change by the government. It seems likely that theVietnamese are preparing for war with China, especially if China keepsannexing Vietnamese territory. Vietnam won a brief war with China in1979. CNN and Vietnam Net and Xinhua

Cyberwar between China and Vietnam may be breaking out

After last week’s naval confrontation between China and Vietnam, somenews reports indicated that Vietnamese hackers were conducting DDoS(distributed denial of service) attacks on a few Chinese web site.Vietnamese officials warned Vietnamese hackers to stop, because China,who have teams of hackers attacking the United States, would almostcertain target Vietnamese sites in revenge. That’s exactly whatappears to have happened, as 102 Vietnamese web sites, most personaland small businesses, have now been attacked by Chinese hackers. Sowe’ll have to see if this thing spirals into a cyberwar, or if itpeters out. Vietnam Net and Thanh Nien News

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