The Chinese are not ones to miss a historical connection when they do something, so these live fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin, southeast of Hanoi, will miss the attention of most people outside of the region, if they don't know their history. The Gulf of Tonkin Incidents (Wikipedia has some good accounts of these) were the main excuse the U.S used to show cause for entry into the Vietnam war. So, when the Chinese announce to the world that no ships may enter that area during the exercises, they are trying to show their dominion over the territory they claim, tell Vietnam that the squabble over territory is not likely to go their way, and remind the U.S that their last attempt to keep the area independent did not go too well.
They are laying claim to a large piece of water that they want to control, and not one that the U.S can control, even if they wanted to. Vietnam, on the other hand, may have something to say about it. They have fought with China before and are not reluctant to do it again if fishing or trade routes become more difficult.
The Chinese are good at this sort of thing. For them, 100 years is like a patch of yesterday. The Vietnam War ended in 1975. We have forgotten; they haven't.
No comments:
Post a Comment