China, Hanoi Count Losses in Isles Clash

A clash between Chinese and Vietnamese forces over disputed islands in the South China Sea has caused Chinese casualties and left Vietnamese ships still burning two days after the incident, according to statements by the two governments Wednesday.

The Voice of Vietnam radio, monitored in Bangkok, Thailand, charged that Chinese warships were blocking efforts to rescue the crew on three burning freighters.

“The Vietnamese side sent lifeboats flying Red Cross flags to rescue those freighters, but they were obstructed by Chinese warships,” the broadcast said, according to wire service reports.

Monday’s incident was the first armed skirmish between the two countries in a continuing contest for sovereignty in the South China Sea. Both China and Vietnam have accused the other of starting the fighting.

Underwater Oil Deposits

The South China Sea is believed to have underwater oil and gas deposits that would belong to whatever country ultimately establishes internationally recognized sovereignty over the islands. Major shipping lanes also pass through the area, giving it strategic importance.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday at a press conference in Beijing that Chinese personnel were wounded in the fighting, which took place on and near a reef in the Spratly Islands. She would not disclose the number of wounded or say whether they were civilian or military. China calls the virtually uninhabited chain the Nansha Islands, while Vietnam calls it the Truong Sa archipelago.

“The armed conflict on March 14 was provoked entirely by the Vietnamese side when the Vietnamese navy made provocations against Chinese personnel conducting survey and study on the Chigua Reef and Vietnamese vessels opened fire on these people and on the Chinese vessels anchoring nearby,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Li Jinhua said. “It was under such circumstances that the Chinese side was forced to make a limited counterattack in self-defense.”

Hanoi Blames Chinese

The Voice of Vietnam broadcast said the clash began when Chinese ships opened fire without provocation on two Vietnamese freighters. Chinese warships then fired on other Vietnamese freighters that came to the rescue, the station said.

Nguyen Phuong Vu, a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry official, met Wednesday in Hanoi with Beijing’s ambassador to Vietnam and accused China of obstructing rescue efforts, according to the radio broadcast.

“The Vietnamese side urged the Chinese side to order its warships to move away from this area and not to prevent the Vietnamese ships from coming to the rescue of the crews on these freighters,” the broadcast said.

China, which has claimed the islands for centuries but has had little presence on them, in recent months has been increasing its activities in the area, prompting vehement Vietnamese protests. Chinese maps show China’s boundaries encompassing virtually the entire South China Sea, sweeping only about 70 miles offshore from the Vietnamese, Malaysian and Philippine coasts.

Malaysia also claims sovereignty in the Spratly Islands, and the Philippines claims some of the easternmost parts of the archipelago.

The Nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan--which China considers a breakaway province--has troops stationed on the largest island in the Spratly chain. China appears to view this favorably as additional proof of its sovereignty.

In 1974, China landed troops on another island chain in the South China Sea, the Paracel Islands, to wrest control from South Vietnam.

The Spratly and Paracel chains total about 130 mostly uninhabited coral atolls and tiny islands.

The issue of sovereignty over the two island chains has become more pressing because of Chinese plans to turn Hainan Island, which lies off the coast of south China and Vietnam, into a new province with special laws aimed at encouraging foreign investment. The official New China News Agency announced in January that the Paracel and Spratly chains will become counties of the new province.

China and Vietnam appear to be settling in for a long-term struggle for control of the islands and the surrounding ocean.

In an official protest note delivered Tuesday to China’s ambassador in Hanoi, Vietnam called the alleged Chinese attack a military provocation and an attempt to grab Vietnamese territory. The note declared that Vietnam will “resolutely apply all necessary measures to protect (its) independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Li, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, was asked Wednesday whether China would consider negotiations with the other countries claiming the islands.

“We have stated on many occasions that the Nansha Islands are an inalienable part of Chinese territory,” Li replied. “The Chinese claim to sovereignty over the islands is irrefutable.”