Research On The South China Sea Policy Of Nguyen Phu Trong Administration Of Vietnam

Since the 1970 s,the rich oil and gas resources in the South China Sea have gradually been discovered,and their important strategic and economic value has attracted the attention of neighboring countries.They have put forward sovereignty claims to the South China Sea.However,these countries’ claims overlap with China’s territorial waters.It has also made the South China Sea issue an international hotspot.Among the claimants in the South China Sea,Vietnam has seized the largest number of islands and reefs,plundered the most resources and had the most extensive sovereignty disputes.Since the 1970 s,the Sino-Vietnamese maritime disputes have gradually become a major obstacle affecting the development of Sino-Vietnamese relations.Nguyen Phu Trong has served three terms as general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam since 2011.Faced with the increasingly emerging importance of the South China Sea and the urgent practical needs of Vietnam’s national development,taking into account the regional geopolitical changes such as the prominent regional centrality of ASEAN,the enhanced power status of China,and the strong involvement of non-regional countries such as the United States,the Trong Government,on the basis of inherits the South China Sea policies of previous governments,has also made improvements to adapt to the new situation.While strengthening the legal foundation,making extensive use of publicopinion tools,giving priority to resource exploitation and maintaining high-level exchanges,Vietnam has actively promoted the internationalization of the maritime disputes between China and Vietnam,forming a “multi-pronged” “Small players fight big players” and“combative but not broken” policy towards the South China Sea.In recent years,the confrontation and conflict incidents between China and Vietnam,represented by the “981 Incident” and “Wan’ an Tan Incident”,are not only the test of their South China Sea policy,but also the development of their South China Sea policy.The South China Sea issue is a serious threat to China’s neighborhood diplomatic environment,and whether it can be properly handled has a bearing on China’s future development.When dealing with the South China Sea disputes with Vietnam,China should be guided by the “correct concept of justice and interests”.On the one hand,China should adhere to its principled position and develop its own strength.On the other hand,China should adopt flexible ways to cooperate with Vietnam and other countries outside the region to jointly utilize and develop the South China Sea and promote the peaceful settlement of the disputes between China and Vietnam.