China Is Angry at Vietnam and the Philippines' Volleyball Diplomacy - US News
China has been angry before, but never about volleyball.
Vietnamese and Philippine troops gathered on a disputed island in the South China Sea on Sunday to drink beer and play beach volleyball in a show of unity that has enraged Beijing. The gathering took place on Southwest Cay in the Spratly Islands, disputed between Vietnam, the Philippines and China. This show of unity between Vietnam and the Philippines in the face of growing Chinese aggression produced a quick reaction from Beijing.
"Don't you think this small move together by Vietnam and the Philippines is at most a clumsy farce?" said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing on Monday. "China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the seas nearby. ... We demand that Vietnam and the Philippines stop any behavior that picks quarrels and causes trouble ... and not do anything to complicate or magnify the dispute."
China's "irrefutable sovereignty" over the Spratly Islands and the rest of the South China Sea is, of course, quite refutable. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea based on its unilaterally-declared "nine-dash line," a claim unrecognized by anyone but the Chinese themselves. Never mind — China will make up its own version of reality as it goes along, based on China's own preferences without regard to what the rest of the world thinks. China is a master at creating works of pure geopolitical fiction, then convincing itself that that these are "irrefutable" facts. The trouble is, China can't convince anyone else.
Despite their own competing claims on Southwest Cay and other islands, Vietnam and the Philippines put aside their differences in the face of what the two Southeast Asian nations increasingly see as a far greater threat from China. The two have agreed to expand naval cooperation, and Vietnam recently expressed interest in a case for international arbitration filed by the Philippines against China. Both countries have also strengthened ties with the United States, irritating China.
China has been angry before, but never about volleyball.
Vietnamese and Philippine troops gathered on a disputed island in the South China Sea on Sunday to drink beer and play beach volleyball in a show of unity that has enraged Beijing. The gathering took place on Southwest Cay in the Spratly Islands, disputed between Vietnam, the Philippines and China. This show of unity between Vietnam and the Philippines in the face of growing Chinese aggression produced a quick reaction from Beijing.
"Don't you think this small move together by Vietnam and the Philippines is at most a clumsy farce?" said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing on Monday. "China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the seas nearby. ... We demand that Vietnam and the Philippines stop any behavior that picks quarrels and causes trouble ... and not do anything to complicate or magnify the dispute."
China's "irrefutable sovereignty" over the Spratly Islands and the rest of the South China Sea is, of course, quite refutable. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea based on its unilaterally-declared "nine-dash line," a claim unrecognized by anyone but the Chinese themselves. Never mind — China will make up its own version of reality as it goes along, based on China's own preferences without regard to what the rest of the world thinks. China is a master at creating works of pure geopolitical fiction, then convincing itself that that these are "irrefutable" facts. The trouble is, China can't convince anyone else.
Despite their own competing claims on Southwest Cay and other islands, Vietnam and the Philippines put aside their differences in the face of what the two Southeast Asian nations increasingly see as a far greater threat from China. The two have agreed to expand naval cooperation, and Vietnam recently expressed interest in a case for international arbitration filed by the Philippines against China. Both countries have also strengthened ties with the United States, irritating China.
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