Vietnam Mulls Taking China To Maritime Arbitration Court

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HANOI – Following in the footsteps of the Philippines, Vietnam is considering taking China to an international maritime court to resolve a simmering dispute over contested waters in the South China Sea (also known as the East Sea by Vietnam). Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has stated that Vietnam is contemplating a series of measures in response to recent provocative Chinese actions – these include possible legal action, such as filing a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, located in the Netherlands.

China and Vietnam have longstanding territorial disputes over the South China Sea, however, tensions have escalated dramatically over the past few weeks since China moved a huge deep-sea oil rig to the area and started drilling for energy resources. More than 100 Chinese and Vietnamese ships have been engaged in a tense stand-off near the rig, which is located near Triton Island in the Paracels. China won control of the island group in 1974 following a brief conflict with Vietnam.

Angry Vietnamese mobs have protested the presence of the oil rig by rioting and seriously damaging Chinese and other foreign owned factories in Vietnam.

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