[Vnbiz] China concerned about protests in Vietnam over disputed islands+

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear anh Shane & CACC,

Territorial disputes are very common around the world and most of the time
they are the evidence of human inability to work together.  More often and
not, territorial dispute involves a bunch of guys claiming exclusive
right over a piece of land.  Once in a while a guy in the bunch
will re-voice the claim, and every guy, again,  jumps up and down like a
bunch of teenagers.  And this usually happens once per year, or once very
other year.  Once there is some kind of tension over the relationship,
territorial dispute would again be used to fuel the fire.

Obviously, as a legal matter, to preserve your ownership claim, you need to
voice your claim whenver someone claims ownership over your piece of
land.  And the louder your mouth is, the better your position may be.

But the solution must come from a more inventive method of international
dealing.  I would try a new approach altogether on the Spratly and Paracel.
Vietnam should seriously propose an international conference of the
disputing nations, pushing for the postition that all the claimants should
look at the disputed islands as a cause for them to work together.  Maybe
the disputed islands should become the common territories owned by various
nations. That should turn a dispute into a cause celeb for "working
together," which will tremendously help the regional stability and
development.  If everyone agrees to this approach, great.  If other nations
do not want to go along, still great!  We have shown to the world our great
attitude on international affairs.

Of course, assuming that the relevant nations agree to this approach, there
would still be lots and lots of technical issues to negotiate and work out.
Not a simple matter.  But I seriously think that the world should start to
think more intelligently about international affairs, using every potential
issue as a cause to work together, instead of jumping up and down on every
potential conflict as a bunch of teenagers.

Have a great day!

Hoanh

On Dec 11, 2007 10:15 AM, Shane Wall <shane.wall at translingualexpress.com>
wrote:

> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
> Over a decade ago, and in 'another life', I was asked by an Australian
> Navy Admiral to analyze this problem. More than 10+ years later, my
> analysis has not changed: Neither side can afford back down politically,
> nor can they 'seize', hold and protect all of their claims. With
> Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia thrown into the mix as
> "co-claimants" of the Truong Sa, and China in total control of the Hoang
> Sa since 1974, an international 'status quo' is inevitable for the
> mid-term.
>
> All claimant country's political claims are either unenforceable
> militarily, cite historically tenuous connections, exploit dubious
> geological evidence or are in contravention of UNCLOS 1982. All
> claimants know this about themselves, and about the claims by others.
> While there have been quite a few military clashes over the years, why
> have these not escalated further? Simply because all the claimants know
> that their claim is as weak as the claim made by any other, although it
> might be for a different reason.
>
> We see these claims, counter-claims, admonitions, etc. at least twice
> per year. Nothing to worry about this time.
>
> Now, what would be REALLY interesting would be to see this issue make
> its way to the UNSC now that both Vietnam and China are on the council!
> THAT would be an interesting transcript to read!!!
>
> Shane
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mr. Shane Wall
> Managing Director
>
> Trans Lingual Express
> 188/16 Nguyen Thuong Hien St,
> P.1, Q. Go Vap, HCMC,
> Vietnam
>
> Mail: shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
> Web: www.translingualexpress.com
>
> Ph: +84 (8) 588 1701
>
> Mbl: +84 (090) 9484 753 (English)
> Mbl: +84 (090) 7885 375 (Vietnamese)
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
> Washington DC
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://<_sre.SRE_Match object at 0xb7a78a20>/pipermail/vnbiz/attachments/20071211/38462707/attachment.html