[Vnbiz] Truong Sa/Hoang Sa

[Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov]

Dear chi Thuy,
Pls check the distance of these island chains from mainland Vietnam.  The 
numbers you cited - 17 and 25 NM - appear too low.
Cheers,  HPP



Thuy Reed <newvietwomen at yahoo.com> 
Sent by: vnbiz-bounces at mail.saigon.com
01/15/2008 09:22 AM
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[Vnbiz] Truong Sa/Hoang Sa






[ Vietnam Business Forum ]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The enclosed article was written for the LA Times. It was beat out by 
pieces about the race issue in 2008 election. This is my attempt to reach 
the outside world. May I share it here?
L&P,
Thuy Reed

"Ware, Diedre" <Diedre.Ware at latimes.com> wrote:
Thank you for your submission to the Los Angeles Times OpEd page. 
Unfortunately, we are unable to use your piece. We do thank you for 
considering The Times and wish you luck in placing it elsewhere.
Thank you, 
Diedre A. Ware 
Asst. to the Editor 
OpEd and Sunday Current 
213 237-7939 
fax 213 237-7968 


 
-----Original Message-----
From: Thuy Reed [mailto:newvietwomen at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 11:43 AM
To: oped at latimes.com
Subject: Att.: Nicholas Goldberg/The Disputed Spratlys

Coming On Strong, With Her Neighbors
Illuminating China�€(tm)s Weakness
 
by Thuy Reed
 
As if to test the water, within two weeks China announced and withdrew 
plans to set up a governmental unit of county level, on the two 
uninhabited ar chipelagos i n the South China Sea that are currently 
claimed in full or in part by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, 
and the Philippines.
 
There have been talks at the international level concerning the ownership 
of 
these claims in New York and elsewhere. The United States has reiterated 
that we will not take sides, as well as our intention to keep that part of 
the Pacific Rim fluid to all. According to Carl Thayer, a long time 
Vietnam watcher of the Australian Defense Force Academy, China holds an 
edge over other claimants in this adverse taking of possession, for no 
nation in the region wishes to have a military confrontation with China.
 
Neither would Beijing is looking to war. The entire episole was meant to 
whipe up some nationalistic sentiment to lift their minds from their many 
troubles at home.
 
The Spratlys island chain is about 25 nautical miles from 
Vietnam�€(tm)s seaside resort Vung Tau, and is laced 
together by reefs and atolls with over 100 islets. The Paracels, taken by 
the Chinese forcibly in 1974 from the former South Vietnam, is about 17 
nautical miles from Da Nang and about one third the size of the other 
archipelago. During the Colonial Period, France and the then ruling 
dynasty of China signed a series of treaties inscribing the two 
archipelagos as territories of French Indochina. Japan occupied both 
during the Pacific War and returned them to the French Protectorate 
Government.
 
Economically speaking, both are considered to be teeming with sea life and 
have potential for large oil and gas reserves. National security speaking, 
Vietnam would be closed off from the world if both areas are controlled b 
y an unfriendly nation.
 
No other country in the world holds a more violent history against the 
people of Vietnam than their giant northern neighbor. It goes as far back 
as 111 years before Christ, and as recently as in 1998 where over 50 
Vietnamese sailors were killed 
in a clash on one of the Spratlys. Yet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 
China is issuing a diplomatic complaint, and making veiled threats about 
weakened ties, in response to rallies held in Vietnam against 
China�€(tm)s creeping policy.
 
In 1999, about the same time Congressman Christopher Cox reported to the 
United States Congress that 13 of China�€(tm)s 
intercontinental nuclear warheads were aimed at American cities, President 
Jiang Zemin penned and distributed worldwide an article, trying to egg and 
shame the United Sta tes and Russia to cut down nuclear warheads, with an 
opening that stated �€oedisarmament should not 
become a tool for stronger nations to control weaker 
ones.�€
 
Well, neither should encroachment become a tool for stronger nations to 
grab land from peaceful and weaker nations. Pick on someone your own size, 
China!
 
In fact, just because of her size, China should conduct herself with 
civility towards the neighboring countries. She needs them to survive. No, 
this has nothing to do with the fact that practically every household item 
in the world is made in that country. It is about too many mouths to feed 
in a country that suffers perpetual drought and shortage of food.
The People�€(tm)s Republic of China deserves credit 
for staging the great c omeback story of the century. It took sh eer 
dedication and wise choices to bring China up from destruction of 
historical proportions -- first by Japan�€(tm)s 
attempt to widen her sphere of influence and then by 
China�€(tm)s own domestic revolutionary agendas.
 
And thanks to the world�€(tm)s enormous desires for 
all the inexpensive ready made goods that her people can produce, she is 
now rich enough to lend money even to the United States of America. Though 
one would have thought that in making herself into a supplier of household 
goods to the world, China has already figured out in 
today�€(tm)s world we all make it and break it 
together.
 
As a matter of fact, Beijing should take advantage of the situation -- 
enjoying a superpower�€(tm)s status without 
shouldering superpower�à ¢Â‚Â¬(tm)s responsibilities -- 
and go totally high-tech in manufact ure as well as in agriculture to undo 
the rapid progression of desertification of arable land in China caused by 
drought and by over herding.
 
Fixing what ails China is a better way to galvanize nationalistic feeling. 
On the other hand, instigating a confrontation instead of offering a 
solution where all claimants can prosper together, Beijing has shown that 
she is not ready to be a global leader. She might be able to host the 
Olympics, but unable to provide solutions even to regional problems. This 
aggressive move cheapens China�€(tm)s nationalistic 
claim on Taiwan.
 
Thuy Reed, Founder/Director
New Viet Women Foundation
569 W 23rd Street
San Pedro CA 90731
Tel.: 310-521-8616
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