Vietnam challenging China with oil tanker seizure

Experts said Vietnam used the US-Filipino drills to distract and weaken China on the South China Sea issue by seizing a Chinese ship.

专家称越南伺美国－菲律宾演习之机，扣押中国船只，分散和削弱中国在南海问题上的位置。

Vietnam’s coast guard on Thursday seized a Chinese oil tanker carrying 100,000 liters of oil which it claims intruded into Vietnamese waters, Reuters reported Monday, adding that it was impounded in the northern port of Hai Phong.

越南海岸警卫队星期四扣押了运载了10万升油的中国油船，声称其侵入越南海域，油船被扣押在海防北部港口，据路透社周一报道。

Vietnamese media deliberately played up the seizure to increase tensions in the waters and pressure China while some senior officials manipulated the media to generate nationalism within the country and incite their nationals to hate China, Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times on Monday.

越南媒体刻意渲染该扣押，升级该水域的紧张局势，并对中国施压，一些高级官员操纵媒体在国内制造民族主义，并煽动其国民对中国的仇视，中国南海研究院的研究员陈相秒周一在接受《环球时报》采访时说。

"Even if the US and Vietnam disagree on many issues, Vietnam uses the drills and power of the US to incite, distract and weaken China on the South China Sea issue," Chen said.

“即使美国和越南在许多问题上意见不一致，越南却趁美国的演习和权力之机，煽动、分散和削弱中国在南海问题的位置，”陈相秒说。

Tensions over territorial and maritime disputes between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea have flared up since May 2014 when Chinese and Vietnamese vessels clashed, following a Vietnamese attempt to stop China from installing a deepwater drilling rig near the Xisha Islands, which are controlled by Beijing but also claimed by Vietnam.

越南试图阻止中国在西沙岛附近安装深水钻井平台，西沙岛由北京控制，同时又被越南称为为其所有，2014年5月中越船只发生冲突，中越两国之间的领土和海上争端的紧张局势爆发。

"Vietnam is contradictory. On one hand, it seeks cooperation with China, but on the other adopts a tough position against China on the South China Sea issue," said Gu Xiaosong, an expert on Southeast Asian studies at the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences.

“越南是矛盾的。一方面，它寻求与中国的合作，但另一方面，又在南海问题上对抗中国，”广西社科院东南亚研究专家古小松说。

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来源:Global Times爱语吧作者:Sylvia