Hoàng Trần (Danlambao) - Phát biểu trong phiên họp chính phủ ngày 16/7, thủ tướng Nguyễn Tấn Dũng đã lên tiếng “yêu cầu Trung Quốc không tái diễn hành vi hạ đặt trái phép giàn khoan” trong vùng biển Việt Nam.
Cùng ngày, người phát ngôn bộ ngoại giao Việt Nam Lê Hải Bình cũng nêu tuyên bố “Việt Nam yêu cầu Trung Quốc không đưa giàn khoan Hải Dương-981 quay trở lại hoặc đưa bất cứ giàn khoan nào khác vào hoạt động ở khu vực lô dầu khí 143 của Việt Nam hoặc bất kỳ khu vực nào khác thuộc vùng biển của Việt Nam”.
Các tuyên đố trên được chính phủ nêu ra trong thời điểm phía TQ thông báo giàn khoan 981 đã ''hoàn thành nhiệm vụ”, đồng thời cho di dời giàn khoan cùng đội tàu chiến với lý do mùa mưa bão sắp đến.
Hiện siêu bão Rammasun (Thần Sấm) mạnh cấp 13 sắp đổ bộ vào Biển Đông. Dù là giàn khoan khủng như HD 981 cũng khó có thể chống đỡ nổi với siêu bão Rammasun mà không bị thiệt hại.
Sự kiện giàn khoan Trung Quốc 'chuồn' khỏi Biển Đông tránh bão đã lập tức trở thành đề tài cho bộ máy tuyên truyền cộng sản thi nhau 'nổ' tưng bừng.
Một vị tướng quân đội còn lạc quan phán “Đây là sự thành công về cuộc chiến về pháp lý, về ngoại giao của Nhà nước và Nhân dân Việt Nam”.
Trên thực tế, nhà cầm quyền CSVN vẫn chưa dám kiện TQ ra tòa án quốc tế, thậm chí đến một nghị quyết phản đối cũng không được quốc hội CSVN ban hành.
“Về cơ bản, Hà Nội đã đầu hàng”
Đó là kết luận của nhà báo nổi tiếng Roger Mitton viết trên The Myanmar Times. Bài báo cho biết, việc TQ đưa giàn khoan 981 vào Biển Đông đã khiến giới lãnh đạo chóp bu CS tỏ ra 'sốc và sợ hãi', đồng thời gây nên sự bất đồng nghiêm trọng trong bộ chính trị.
Trong chuyến thăm Việt Nam, ủy viên quốc vụ viện Trung Quốc Dương Khiết Trì đã lớn tiếng cảnh báo rằng Việt Nam sẽ hứng chịu tổn thất nặng nều nếu hợp tác với các nước khác, cụ thể là Hoa Kỳ, trong việc chống lại tuyên bố chủ quyền của Trung Quốc.
Đồng thời, Dương Khiết Trì cũng ra lệnh cho giới lãnh đạo CSVN không được tham gia cùng Philippines trong nhằm kiện Trung Quốc lên Liên Hiệp Quốc.
Ngay sau khi Dương Khiết Trì về, bộ chính trị lập tức triệu tập một cuộc họp với những tranh luận nảy lửa.
Sau cùng, nhóm thân Trung Quốc tiếp tục thắng thế. Điều này được thấy rõ khi chuyến đi Mỹ cầu viện của bộ trưởng ngoại giao Phạm Bình Minh bị hoãn vô thời hạn. Mặc dù trước đó, chuyến thăm được dự kiến sẽ diễn ra trong tháng 7.
“Về cơ bản, Hà Nội đã đầu hàng. Sẽ không có thêm các cuộc biểu tình, không có việc kiện lên Liên Hợp Quốc, sẽ không xảy ra các trận diễn tập quân sự với Mỹ và không có chuyện dẫn đầu mặt trận ASEAN thống nhất nhằm chống lại Bắc Kinh”, Roger Mitton viết.
TƯỚNG NGUYỄN TRỌNG VĨNH BÌNH LUẬN NHANH VIỆC TQ RÚT GIÀN KHOAN
Nguyễn Xuân Diện: 06h sáng nay, tôi báo cáo với Tướng Nguyễn Trọng Vĩnh về tình hình Biển Đông: Nửa đêm qua, Trung Cộng đã rút giàn khoan ra khỏi vùng biển thuộc chủ quyền Việt Nam. Tướng Nguyễn Trọng Vĩnh đã nhận định và bình luận như sau:
Trung Quốc rút giàn khoan tại thời điểm này không phải là họ từ bỏ dã tâm độc chiếm Biển Đông, xâm lược Việt Nam; cũng không phải do cơn bão Rammansun. Họ rút giàn khoan vì biết Hội nghị trung ương sắp triệu tập để bàn riêng về tình hình Biển Đông và quyết định có kiện Trung Quốc ra tòa án quốc tế hay không.
Họ rút giàn khoan để ngăn chặn không cho BCH TW có lý do bàn về vấn đề Biển Đông nữa, đồng thời làm cho dư luận thế giới dịu đi, không phê phán gay gắt họ nữa.
Im ắng một thời gian thì họ lại tiếp tục lấn chiếm. Lúc đó, dư luận thế giới thấy rằng Việt Nam không đấu tranh, từ bỏ việc kiện Trung Quốc thì thế giới không ủng hộ nữa.
Thế là Trung Quốc càng ngày tiếp tục lấn tới, mạnh mẽ hơn, thành ra VN bị mắc bẫy và bi cô lập hoàn toàn.
China’s Rig Departure Proves Nothing
China has shown an ability to withstand regional pressure, and will likely return on its own terms.
China made a startling announcement on Wednesday morning, when Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told Xinhua News Agency that China National Petroleum Corp.’s HYSY 981 offshore oil rig was leaving its position in waters disputed with Vietnam near the Paracel Islands, which it had occupied since May 2. Since being deployed, the rig has been a constant source of conflict between Vietnam and China, with almost daily naval confrontations between the two countries’ coast guards and fishing fleets, and violent anti-China protests in Vietnam. While this sudden departure is surprising and significant for several reasons, Hong made sure to state that the Xisha, or Paracel, Islands were inherently Chinese territory, and that “China strongly opposes Vietnam’s irrational disruptions and has taken necessary security measures to ensure the operation.”
The decision to take the oil rig to Hainan a full month ahead of schedule raises several questions. CNPC originally stated that the rig would remain at its location until August 15, yet on Tuesday said that both exploration and drilling were complete. The deputy director of CNPC’s Policy Research Office, Wang Zhen, said that preliminary analysis showed that the area had the “the basic conditions and potential for oil exploration, but extraction testing cannot begin before a comprehensive assessment of the data.” Thus China has given itself a reason to return should it want to, but the vague mention of requiring further data assessment before returning to drill means China can decide when or if revisiting this dispute with Vietnam is necessary.
China’s abrupt withdrawal of the rig before its scheduled departure with no advanced warning and very little fanfare would lead to the logical assumption that China is seeking to reduce tension with Vietnam, and is perhaps bending to international pressure over its growing assertive claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea, which has led to increasingly hostile disputes with both Vietnam and the Philippines. That may very well be the case, yet China has left itself with the rationale to return should it choose to.
While not giving an official reason for leaving early, Xinhua noted that the test operations could not be immediately arranged because the typhoon season was beginning. An industry official with knowledge of the operation who spoke with Reuters also noted that leaving early would free the rig to be contracted for other jobs. As China’s most advanced and newest offshore oil platform, capable of drilling twice as deep as China’s other two deep sea rigs, these two reasons make a modicum of sense. China has withdrawn all of the other vessels that it employed to protect the rig and its claim to the disputed waters. According to deputy director of Vietnam’s fisheries resources surveillance department, Ha Le, Vietnam has also removed its 30 coast guard and fisheries patrol vessels in order to avoid Typhoon Rammasun.
It is curious that China has decided to effectively abandon its claim to the Paracel Islands at this point, when its use of ramming and water cannon made the dispute fairly one-sided, as Vietnam suffered 27 damaged boats as well as 15 injured surveillance officers. Even the anti-China protests in Vietnam that escalated during Maysubsided after the government effectively clamped down, possibly due to Vietnam’s dependence on its economic ties to China and its realization that its navy is no match.
With Vietnam effectively neutralized for the immediate future, the decision to withdraw early is likely due to larger regional tensions. China’s recent nine-dash line assertion in the South China Sea with both Vietnam and the Philippines has been the catalyst for quite a bit of regional security cooperation. China’s largest rival in the region, Japan, has taken the opportunity to pledge coast guard ships and strengthen defense ties with the respective countries. China was also the main target of the Shangri-La Dialogue in late May, with both the U.S. and Japan citing its attempt to change the status quo as the most important current regional trend.
While China appears to be backing off for now, it is likely playing a longer game. It has conceded none of its claims, yet has shown that it can assert its will (at least in regard to the much weaker Vietnam) and complete its objectives despite regional outcries and near daily confrontations. China will likely regard this as setting a successful precedent, whereby it can impose its interpretation of regional boundaries without a significant backlash. Instead of a reduction in Chinese assertiveness, what is equally likely is that the Chinese leadership feels it can revisit issues like this at the time and place of its choosing in the future, and that the regional security balance will not have significantly shifted or solidified against it in the interim. Should that prove not to be the case, then a valuable piece of offshore hardware is safely within its home waters, and China has proven it has the wherewithal to endure sustained regional pressure.
Chinese oil rig moved away from disputed waters off Vietnam
4:39am EDT
By John Ruwitch and Nguyen Phuong Linh
SHANGHAI/HANOI (Reuters) - A Chinese oil rig has finished drilling near the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea after finding signs of oil and gas and is being moved away from the area, more than two months after its deployment damaged relations with Hanoi.
The Vietnamese coastguard said the $1-billion rig had been towed from contested waters. China's official Xinhua news agency said the rig would be relocated off the southernmost island province of Hainan. It gave no timeframe.
The rig's relocation could reduce tensions between the two neighbours after one of the worst breakdowns in ties since they fought a brief war in 1979.
Its movement toward Hainan is also likely to be welcomed by Washington, which had criticised China's decision to put the rig in waters disputed with Vietnam, calling it a "provocative" act.
Hanoi had said the rig was in its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. Beijing had said it was operating completely within its waters around the Paracel islands, which China occupies.
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the country's dominant oil and gas producer, said in a statement the rig "smoothly completed" its drilling on Tuesday and found signs of oil and gas. The next step would be to analyse the geological data and evaluate the layers of oil and gas, it said.
CNPC's preliminary analysis showed "the area has the basic conditions and potential for oil exploration, but extraction testing cannot begin before a comprehensive assessment of the data", Xinhua quoted Wang Zhen, deputy director of the CNPC Policy Research Office, as saying.
China had previously said the rig was scheduled to explore the waters around the Paracels until mid-August. It was not clear why it had finished one month ahead of schedule, although Xinhua said July was the beginning of the typhoon season.
China's popular Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo lit up with criticism of the move. Many people said the government had bowed to the United States, underscoring the domestic pressure Beijing faces to be tough in its territorial disputes.
But China's Foreign Ministry said the decision was made in accordance with commercial decisions and had "no relation to any outside factor".
The government also insists the area belongs to China and as recently as Tuesday told Washington to stay out of quarrels over the South China Sea.
Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, a Chinese government think tank on Hainan, said he believed the rig completed its work ahead of schedule because of good weather before the typhoon season began. "The place has fairly good oil and gas potential. It looks promising," said Wu, an expert on China's energy ambitions in the South China Sea.
ACTION AT SEA
The rig was towed from its original position overnight to beyond what Hanoi considers its exclusive economic zone, Lieutenant-Colonel Ngo Minh Tung of the Vietnamese coastguard told a small group of reporters on one of the maritime agency's ships in the area.
"According to our assessment and the speed at which it was moving, the rig has left Vietnamese waters," Tung said.
The coastguard would stay in the area to protect Vietnamese fishing boats and the country's sovereignty, Tung added.
On Tuesday, the same coastguard vessel was chased off by a group of Chinese ships in what had been a near daily cat-and-mouse routine between boats from both sides since the rig was deployed on May 2. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung demanded that China not send any more rigs into Vietnamese waters.
The deployment was a major test for Dung, especially when deadly anti-Chinese riots broke out in Vietnam in May, triggering protests from China. Several people were killed.
The rig is owned by state-run China National Offshore Oil Company Group (CNOOC Group), parent of flagship unit CNOOC Ltd.
It is China's newest and most advanced rig, and can drill in waters up to 3,000 m (9,840 ft) deep, about double that of the other two rigs China uses for deep sea work, industry sources say.
China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the waters, whose estimated energy potential varies widely.
Discoveries near the coasts of Southeast Asian countries in recent years have been mostly natural gas, reinforcing the belief among geologists and explorers that there is more gas than oil in the South China Sea.
Chinese industry experts have said the rig had a good chance of finding enough gas to put the area into production. That would give China its first viable energy field in the disputed South China Sea, but make it a source of friction with Hanoi for years to come.
The world's largest energy user imports nearly 60 percent of its oil needs and more than 30 percent of its natural gas.
In a 2013 report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a government agency, said geological evidence suggested the Paracel islands themselves did not have significant potential in terms of conventional hydrocarbons.
However, the chance of making a major gas discovery near the islands was high because there had been several gas finds already in the area, experts have said.
Vietnam has two fields to the left of where the rig had been stationed, much closer to its coast, where U.S. giant Exxon Mobil Corp discovered oil and gas in 2011 and 2012.
(Additional reporting by Michael Martina, Ben Blanchard and Chen Aizhu in BEIJING, Charlie Zhu in HONG KONG, Ho Binh Minh in HANOI and Martin Petty aboard Vietnamese Coastguard Ship 8003; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez)
© Thomson Reuters 2014. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
