A Russian ‘Kilo’-class submarine of the kind which Vietnam uses. Flickr
Robert Beckhusen, War On The Rocks: Vietnam’s Plan to Counter China Is a ‘People’s War’ at Sea
Asymmetric tactics involve fishing boats and submarines.
Vietnam has reason to worry about China — particularly China’s increasing presence in the South China Sea complete with air bases on artificial islands and a massive maritime militia comprised of fishing boats, with crews answering directly to the People’s Liberation Army.
Vietnam has its own claims in the region, and recent naval patrols and a landing by a Chinese H-K bomber in the Paracel Islands — a first — have amounted to a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry stated on May 21.
What’s less clear is how Vietnam would respond if tensions with China were to ever escalate to armed conflict. The scenario is not out of reach. China’s single war since the Korean War was with Vietnam in 1979. In 1988, Chinese troops and naval gunfire killed 64 Vietnamese soldiers at the Johnson South Reef. And during the past few years, Vietnam has patiently bolstered its military with the help of a long-time partner, Russia, clearly in response to China’s own maneuvers at sea.
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WNU Editor: Chinese and Vietnamese tensions over the South China Sea are getting intense. From China .... China’s navy and coastguard stage first joint patrols near disputed South China Sea islands as ‘warning to Vietnam’ (SCMP). From Vietnam .... Chinese ships were 'invading' Vietnamese waters: top defense official (VNExpress). And while Vietnam may wish to stand-up to China .... facts are facts .... in any conflict the Chinese have such a huge advantage in material, resources, military assets, and bases .... that any dispute/fight will end very quickly in favor of China.
6 comments:
How would Vietnam wage war vs China?
Quite futilely.
It wouldn't, It would attack India and push into the middle east. There is nothing in China, plus you get bottlenecked over the crater's edge.
So are the vietnamese supposed to ignore the fact that their capital Hanoi is within striking distance of a chinese land invasion?What's the point of fighting at sea if the enemy only needs one quick push towards your capital?
The Vietnamese would never surrender to the Chinese. You would think the Chinese would learn from the last time they tried this. It would not surprise me at all if the Viet asked for help from us.
I think a conflict with Vietnam will be a nasty surprised for China. Communist China's last military conflicts was something like 35 years ago. Since then they have mostly besten students and buddhist monks. The moralen among Chinese troops will also be interesting to study (my guess is that on Chinese mainland they would fight with sprit, but not on foreign soil.
I also think the invasion will be a logistical challenge for the Chinese, if not the Viatnamese against all odds would surrender easily.
China invaded north Vietnam years ago and got punished, they may do better now but Vietnam could hold its own. Also, we need to look at any conflict in the South China Sea as a coalition against China, therefore other countries including the US would get involved. China has no chance to win such a broad war.
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