Chinese Submarine Crisis Has Region On Edge As It Enters Its Fifth Day - Grand Central Times - September 3rd, 2019

[Capt Boyle]

Chinese Submarine Crisis Has Region On Edge As It Enters Its Fifth Day

Grand Central Times - Dateline September 3rd, 2019

Tensions in the South China Sea spiked again last night after Vietnam refused to return the Yuan Zheng 74 submarine that had run aground just south of a major Vietnamese naval base. Vietnamese President Tiêu Kiến Ðức  issued a public statement saying “The People’s Republic of China has once again proven they care not for peace or the rule of law by threatening us to recover the submarine they illegally sent into our waters.” The crisis, which began four days ago, has shown few signs of de-escalation since the submarine was first captured. 

 

Pictured: The Yuan Zheng 74 run aground South of Cam Ranh Harbor.  Photo Courtesy of the Vietnamese People's Navy.

 

Spotted by patrol boats of the Vietnam People’s Navy on Tuesday just south of Cam Ranh Bay, which houses a significant portion of the Vietnamese fleet, the trapped submarine was at first thought to be one of Vietnam’s Kilo-class submarines that had gotten lost in the stormy weather of the previous night. However as the patrol boats closed in, they were greeted by the sight of Chinese sailors scrambling on the deck followed quickly by a loudspeaker warning them not to approach or they would be fired upon. The patrol boats pulled back, but the Vietnamese quickly deployed several warships to block any escape or rescue attempt and troops were sent to guard the nearby shores as well as look for any members of the crew who had come ashore. 

 

With this support, several heavily-armed Vietnamese patrol boats came alongside the stricken vessel, demanding the crew surrender or be fired upon themselves. After a brief standoff, a Chinese officer came out of the ship waving a white flag. As the Vietnamese began boarding the ship, they quickly found that the officer who had surrender the vessel was the second-in-command, with the captain having committed suicide sometime after the boat ran  aground. They also soon found a large amount of the ship’s documents had been burned or shredded, and several sensitive systems had been smashed. The crew were equally uncooperative, and are currently being housed in a security facility at the naval base awaiting repatriation according to sources in the Vietnamese Navy. Those sources also claim that evidence has been recovered that proves the Chinese vessel was preparing to deploy commandos to sabotage Vietnamese warships in Cam Ranh Bay.

 

China has denied these allegations and contends that the vessel merely became lost in the bad weather, while also accusing Vietnam of needlessly escalating the situation by illegally seizing a vessel in distress. Conspiracy theories are already circulating on Weibo and other Chinese social media sites that the captain was executed by Vietnamese soldiers to prevent the submarine from leaving. China has also mobilized the South Sea Fleet to a higher level of readiness, with several Chinese warships now patrolling just outside of Vietnamese waters near Cam Ranh. While the US has not taken an official stance on the matter, the 7th Fleet has issued a statement that it will be launching more Freedom of Navigation missions throughout the South China Sea in the coming weeks. 

 

Many in Washington view this as the latest in a series of aggressive acts taken by China towards the region, which has been on the rise since the 2016 RIMPAC Incident. The repeated harassment of Filipino vessels by the Chinese Navy has also been a sore point for US-China relations, with some Filipino officials calling for the reactivation of the Subic Bay Naval Base, a former US Navy installation that was closed in 1991. The proposals are receiving support from the Pentagon, who views China’s island building as a serious threat to US forces in the region, and looks to balance these forward bases with American ones.
 
By Thomas E. Lawrence