Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh
has said that Vietnam is checking information that China is building a fake
island and military base on Gac Ma Reef (Johnson South Reef) in the center of
the East Sea.
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Gac Ma Reef (Johnson South Reef) in the center
of the East Sea
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Bloomberg has reported that
China is building Dubai-style fake islands in the East Sea in an effort to
“reshape” the East Sea.
The newswire has quoted
Filipino fishermen and local officials as saying that Chinese ships are
carrying construction materials to the waters near the disputed Spratly
Islands.
“China’s efforts are
reminiscent of Dubai’s Palm resort-style land reclamation,” Bloomberg quoted
the locals as saying.
Major General Nguyen Kim
Khoa, chairman of the Committee of Defence and Security, said if China is
really building islands on the East Sea, it is violating Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) which says that the status quo must
be maintained for the parties to conduct negotiations to sign the Code of
Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.
“Not only Vietnam, but
other ASEAN countries, will know what they need to do if China really is doing
this,” Khoa said.
In May 2014, Want China
Times quoted Duowei News run by overseas Chinese as reporting that the Chinese
military may soon set up a military base on Gac Ma of the Vietnamese Truong Sa
archipelago.
The online newspaper said
China plans to build an artificial island worth $5 billion, a harbor and an
airport to strengthen its military power in the East Sea.
The news was released after
Vietnam made public a video clip showing Chinese ships ramming a Vietnamese
fishing boat, and after US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel criticized China at
a Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Duong Trung Quoc, a
well-known Vietnamese historian, and a National Assembly’s Deputy, said in Dat
Viet newspaper that Vietnam needs to raise its voice against illegal acts, and
if not, actions would “be done and not reversible”, and as a result, it would
be very dangerous.
In 1988, China illegally
occupied Vietnamese Gac Ma by using force. At that time, many questions were
raised: what would China do after that, a naval base or a military airport
which can be developed into a center to control air transport in the East Sea?
Colonel Trinh Dinh Thach,
deputy chief commander in chief of the Quang Ngai provincial Military Command,
said that Vietnam would resolutely protest against the Chinese act of building
islands and military bases on Gac Ma, if it discover that China is really doing
this.
Source: VNN
