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 Tensions between China and its neighbors over maritime territory
have risen since Taiwan and U.S. officials said Beijing had placed
surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, part of the Paracel
archipelago it controls.
"Vietnam is deeply concerned about the actions by China. These are
serious infringements of Vietnam's sovereignty over the Paracels,
threatening peace and stability in the region as well as security,
safety and freedom of navigation and flight," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Le Hai Binh said in a statement.
"Vietnam demands China immediately stop such erroneous actions."
The statement said diplomatic notes had been issued to China's
embassy in Hanoi and to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
to protest at Beijing's activities, including the building of a
military helicopter base on Duncan island.
Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had urged
claimants to refrain from island-building and militarization in the
South China Sea.
"It is absolutely critical that we ensure that there is a lowering
of tensions," said Turnbull, speaking after a meeting in Sydney with
New Zealand counterpart John Key.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5
trillion in global trade passes every year and which is believed to
have huge deposits of oil and gas. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the
Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
The Philippines said it was "gravely concerned" about the reports of
missiles being deployed on Woody Island.
"These developments further erode trust and confidence and aggravate
the already tense situation," its Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
Australia's Turnbull said if Chinese President Xi Jinping was
serious about avoiding the so-called Thucydides Trap, a foreign
policy metaphor inspired by ancient Athens and Sparta in which a
rising power causes fear in an established power that escalates
toward war, he must resolve disputes through international law.
"President Xi is right in identifying avoiding that trap as a key
goal," said Turnbull.
U.S. PATROLS
Beijing has been angered by air and sea patrols the United States
has conducted near islands China claims. Those have included one by
two B-52 strategic bombers in November and by a U.S. Navy destroyer
that sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the
Paracels last month.
Key said New Zealand, the first developed country to recognize China
as a market economy and to sign a bilateral free trade deal, was
leveraging its relationship with China to urge measures to lower
tensions.
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"Does that give us more opportunities to make that case, both
privately and publicly? ... my view is yes," said Key, noting that
both Australia and New Zealand are now also part of the Beijing-led
Asian Investment Bank.
The comments come after Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
visited Beijing, where she raised the issues of the missiles and the
South China Sea in meetings with Chinese officials, including top
diplomat Yang Jiechi.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Australia and New
Zealand "are not countries involved in the South China Sea".
"We hope the two countries can objectively view the historical
developments of the South China Sea, not neglect the facts, and not
put forward proposals that are unconstructive," Hong told reporters.
The Chinese government has offered few details in response to the
missile claim, while accusing Western media of "hyping up" the story
and saying China has a legitimate right to military facilities on
territory it views as its own.
An influential Chinese state-run tabloid, the Global Times, in an
editorial on Friday, described the HQ-9 missiles that are apparently
now on Woody Island as "a typical type of defensive weapon", but
warned the People's Liberation Army might feel compelled to deploy
more weapons.
"If the U.S. military stages a real threat and a military clash is
looming, the PLA may feel propelled to deploy more powerful
weapons," it said.
At a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in California on Monday,
Vietnam's prime minister suggested to U.S. President Barack Obama
that Washington take "more efficient actions" against militarization
and island-building.
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in
BEIJING and Manuel Mogato in MANILA; Editing by Lincoln Feast and
Alex Richardson)
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