Opinion Snubbing Moscow

When Russia and Vietnam announced a deal for hydrocarbon exploration in the South China Sea this month,Beijing was quick to tell Moscow not to poke its nose into the contested waters.

After nearly 25 years of hostile relations,from the late 1950s to the early 1980s,China and Russia have steadily warmed up to each other in recent years. Their strategic partnership is built on the shared objective of limiting American dominance in world affairs and the creation of a multipolar world.

Beijing’s recent snub to Moscow on the South China Sea,however,points to the deeper faultlines in the Sino-Russian partnership.

Russia’s latest foray into the South China Sea,coming at a time when Washington and Beijing are circling each other in one of the world’s important waterways,reflects the renewed geopolitical rumbling of Asia’s tectonic plates. China claims almost all the waters of the South China Sea and has warned other countries including the United States,Japan and India to stay out of its maritime territorial disputes with a number of southeast Asian countries. Beijing has cautioned international oil companies against embarking on exploration and production of offshore oil and gas in the South China Sea. It is against this background that the Russian Company,Gazprom signed a deal with PetroVietnam for the exploration hydrocarbons in the South China Sea.

While the foreign office in Beijing was firm but polite in ticking off the Russians,the Chinese media was razor sharp in its criticism. “Gazprom’s agreement with the Vietnam company could simply be profit-oriented. However,as both companies are controlled by their respective governments,this action could be seen as a reflection of the attitude of top-level leaderships,” the Global Times newspaper said in a commentary. It pointed to the trend that Vietnam and the Philippines are “involving outsiders” in a bid to “stack up their chips on the negotiation table against China,” the newspaper argued. “China attaches great importance to the Sino-Russian strategic relationship,but it is not something to be begged from Russia,” the editorial concluded.

Defiant Vietnam

IN RESPONSE to Chinese statements,Hanoi declared that all of Vietnam’s oil and gas projects with foreign partners,including with Gazprom,are “within Vietnam’s sovereign territory” and in accordance with international laws.

“Vietnam welcomes foreign partners to cooperate with Vietnamese companies in the oil and gas sector within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,and on the basis of Vietnam’s laws,” a spokesman for Vietnam’s ministry of foreign affairs said last week. “Vietnam pledges (to protect) and is responsible for protecting the rights and legitimate interests of foreign partners in Vietnam,” he added.

Russian alliance

AS RUSSIA steps into the rough waters of the South China Sea,some Chinese analysts recalled the Russia-Vietnam alliance against Beijing during the Cold War.

They see a new pattern in great power intervention in the South China Sea. They accuse the United States of encouraging its Cold War ally,the Philippines,to step up the current confrontation with China. Moscow,the Chinese observers say,is doing much the same — backing its Cold War partner Hanoi against Beijing.

Soviet Russia maintained a big naval presence at Cam Ranh Bay,on Vietnam’s long coastline framing the western edges of the South China Sea,in the 1980s. The facility was developed into a major base by the Americans during the Vietnam war.

There is some speculation on the Russian Navy returning to Cam Ranh Bay. Moscow,it might be recalled has recently established bases in Syria and Djibouti. During the Cold War,Russia was shunned by most of South East Asia. The ASEAN now has welcomed Moscow,along with Washington,into the region’s premier political forum,the East Asia Summit.

Meanwhile,Russia is the biggest source of advanced arms to Vietnam,as Hanoi seeks a rapid military modernisation to cope with the perceived threats from China. The focus,unsurprisingly,is on naval weapons. As China builds a powerful navy and seeks to dominate the South China Sea,Vietnam is focused on acquiring sufficient capability to deny Beijing total control over the disputed waters.

The writer is a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation,Delhi