Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
Now I have some rather shocking news for everyone.
Apparently, countries are having disputes
over oil.
I know!
I never thought it could happen, either.
But what’s even more surprising
is which two countries are letting
a little black gold come between them:
China and Vietnam.
Which is a shame.
Vietnam and China have a long history.
Boyhood.
Always a difficult time
for young nations.
For two thousand years,
Vietnam and China fought like brothers—
with Vietnam coming under Chinese domination,
then fighting its way out,
only to be dominated again—
and so it cycled on and on.
In the 20th Century,
China came to the aid of its communist little brother in the Vietnam War.
helping North Vietnam defeat
the American imperialists.
But after the war,
China attacked Vietnam
and a bloody battle ensued,
with Vietnam emerging as the bitter winner.
Ten years later,
China and Vietnam became friends once again.
But now, Vietnam and China are facing off
once more.
This time,
over that well of black gold in the ocean,
the South China Sea.
The South China Sea.
Five trillion dollars a year in shipping
flows through these waters.
And they’re also home to
untapped natural resources,
like oil and natural gas.
Seven different countries have claims
to various parts of the South China Sea.
But not to worry,
because China has tried to simplify these disputes
by claiming pretty much the whole thing
with its “Nine-Dash Line”.
Vietnam has recently made the bold move
to start drilling for oil and gas
in parts of this disputed territory.
The Vietnamese government divides
its coastal area into numbered blocks.
Kind of like Battleship.
But with oil rigs.
Which is probably not as fun of a game.
“Ohhhhh, You sunk my oil rig!
Causing an environmental disaster
that will wipe out all ocean life
within 500 nautical miles.”
Anyway, Vietnam wants to drill for oil
in blocks 118, 128, and 136.
This is a problem,
because China’s Nine-Dash Line passes through
or past these blocks,
meaning Vietnam wants to drill in disputed territory.
And China is not exactly ready
to welcome them to the neighborhood.
“We hope the relevant country
can act on the basis of maintaining
regional peace and stability
and not do anything to
complicate the situation.”
Hey, Vietnam has watched The Sopranos.
It knows a veiled threat when it hears one.
And that’s why it’s getting the other families together,
if you know what I mean.
Vietnam’s first ally is India.
India is one of China’s biggest economic rivals in Asia.
And Vietnam just renewed an oil deal
with them last week.
Vietnam granted an Indian oil firm
a two-year extension to drill in Block 128.
And why is India doing it?
One official from that Indian oil firm told Reuters,
“interest in the block was strategic
rather than commercial,
given that oil development there
was seen as high-risk
with only moderate potential.”
The official also said,
“Vietnam also wants us to be there
because of China’s interventions in the South China Sea.”
That’s right,
India isn’t even hiding
that it was a political move.
For the Indian government,
it’s more about checking China
than checking for oil.
In fact,
India and Vietnam have been getting a lot closer
over the past year.
India gave Vietnam a 500 million dollar loan
to buy defense equipment,
including naval ships and missiles.
They’re also helping Vietnam train
their fighter pilots and submarines.
India also promised to fund a Bollywood movie
where a maverick Vietnamese fighter pilot
struggles regain his confidence
after his friend is tragically killed
during a training dance number.
Anyway, Vietnam’s second drilling ally
is the United States—surprisingly.
Here at block 118,
there’s a natural gas field
called Blue Whale.
Because it’s big.
You know,
like a blue whale.
Very creative.
The natural gas there is worth about
four-and-a-half billion US dollars.
And who better to do a joint venture
with state-owned PetroVietnam
than the American company ExxonMobil,
which has such illustrious former CEO’s
as Rex Tillerson,
current US Secretary of State.
Which means it’s quite possible
the deal has the political backing
of the US government.
The planned natural gas drilling
will be within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone,
which extends 200 miles off its coast.
But wait!
China’s Nine-Dash Line overlaps
part of Block 118.
So as you can also imagine,
Vietnam and the US drilling close to the Nine-Dash Line
is not making China very happy.
And speaking of US-Vietnam joint operations,
earlier this month,
Vietnam began joint military drills with the US.
This has happened every year since 2010.
But this time,
it came just days after a US Destroyer
sailed through waters China and Vietnam both claim.
And that was just a month after US President Trump
met with Vietnamese Prime Minister…
uhh, Shelley,
how do you pronounce that?
Got it.
Prime Minister Phuc.
They signed some trade deals and stuff.
A few days later Phuc met with Vietnam’s third ally:
Japan.
Oh man,
I hate it when you’re meeting another world leader
and you’re wearing practically the same outfit.
Awkward!
But I guess it turned out to be more of a compliment,
since Japan committed to 900 million dollars
in aid to Vietnam…
...and then the two countries held,
you guessed it,
a joint military drill.
And then there’s block 136.
Unlike the other blocks I mentioned,
this block falls entirely within China’s Nine Dash Line—
so Vietnam and China both claim the whole thing.
Well, the BBC just learned that
a Vietnamese company has been quietly drilling there
since last month.
The Chinese regime has apparently
also leased out the same territory
to a Hong Kong company,
where two of the directors also happen to be
senior members of the Chinese Communist Party.
Vietnam had avoided drilling there
for years to avoid upsetting China,
but apparently now Vietnam no longer cares and is doing it anyway.
The Chinese regime has not reacted graciously.
China and Vietnam were planning on celebrating
their camaraderie with some joint military drills last month.
Wait again?
When did joint military drills become
the vow renewals of international relations?
But after Vietnam met with India...
and the US...
and Japan...
and drilled for oil in territory that China claims, well,
China decided it didn’t want to hang out anymore.
But besides being generally un-neighborly,
China is probably not going to take any serious action.
That’s because China is pushing for its One Belt,
One Road global domination initiative.
They want to make economic alliances
all around the world,
particularly in Southeast Asia.
And if China starts ramming Vietnamese boats...again...
it might make other countries
not want to participate in One Belt One Road.
So China is holding back.
Also, the Chinese leadership is holding
an important Party Congress in November this year,
and they don’t want some silly war to...
rock the boat.
Vietnam understands all this,
so it’s a good time for them
to start drilling for that black gold.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell,
see you next time.
Enjoy the episode?
You could've seen it five days ago on our website, ChinaUncensored.tv,
where we posted the full half-hour episode.
Which we are able to make now thanks to the support of all our patron on Patreon.