Word: paracels
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...realm of geopolitical disputes, the barren Paracel Islands are a far cry from the mountains of Kashmir or the alleys of Gaza. Claimed by both China and Vietnam, the archipelago comprises some 30 tiny spits of land in the middle of the South China Sea with innocuous names like Woody Island and Antelope Reef. No one lives there, nor has there been any evidence that lucrative natural resources lie beneath its lagoons and reefs. But, experts say, at a time when regional economies are booming - and nationalist sentiments swelling - the Paracels and the heavily contested Spratly islands further south remain...
...Tensions flared most recently last week when the Chinese government announced it would begin developing high-end tourism on a few of the Paracels as part of an ambitious new plan to draw tourists from around the world to Hainan, a Chinese island province off the mainland's southern coast. But while planners dream of creating a Chinese Hawaii - with the Paracels' clear waters a potential luxury destination for divers - the leaked proposal made Hanoi bristle almost instantly. China has retained de facto control over the archipelago since seizing it in its entirety with gunboats in 1974, but Vietnam...
...recent months between American and PLA surveillance vessels near China's southern Hainan island may be an augur of what lies ahead. A new submarine base there gives Beijing a vital edge in the South China Sea, whose waters are contested by five other governments. The disputed Spratly and Paracel archipelagoes, which sit above reserves of natural gas, have been an ongoing bone of contention between China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Further afield, China and India, Asia's other rising giant, are locked in a protracted contest of influence over the Indian Ocean, with China setting up a "string of pearls...
...December 2007 and January 2008, 56-year-old human rights activist Nguyen Hoaong Hai - who blogged under the pseudonym "Dieu Cay" - organized demonstrations in Ho Chi Minh City against the government's permission of the Olympic torch to pass through Vietnam. The demonstrations protested Chinese occupation of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea - which Vietnam also claims. Within months, police arrested Nguyen on charges of tax evasion - a move widely seen as retaliation. "It's pretty clear that what he was really thrown in jail for was for criticizing China's claim over the Paracels," says Bob Dietz...
...because we had the right to defend our country. I would like to emphasize our consistent policy of creating peace and stability not only in Vietnam but also in other countries in the region. We have consistently asserted our sovereignty and our jurisdiction over the Spratly and Paracel islands since we do have the evidence and grounds for that. All the parties concerned-Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei-should together negotiate to find a solution to the dispute. It is not our policy to deal with this issue bilaterally...