When Defence Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Guan Youfei emerged from an unprecedented meeting of regional defence ministers in Hanoi last October to describe the South China Sea as 'their problem, not our problem', he neatly summed up the fact that there were no easy answers to that dispute.
Eight months on, the situation is fast degenerating at sea and in the staterooms, despite ongoing talks between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to forge a meaningful document to keep the peace until territorial disputes across the South China Sea are solved.
The past few days have provided a steady drumbeat of incidents at sea, diplomatic and street protests from Hanoi and counter-condemnations from Beijing. Sino-Vietnamese relations - officially fraternal yet plagued by historic suspicions at the best of times - are at their lowest point in nearly 20 years. Given the strategic and mineral potential of the South China Sea, the situation is resonating in Washington, Tokyo, Seoul and other foreign capitals.
And the prospect of a nine-hour live-fire exercise by Vietnam's navy today off its central coast highlights the potential for the situation to escalate, even as all sides deny they will be the ones to act first.
Vietnam, having struck a series of deals with foreign oil giants, is pushing ahead with extensive exploration and survey work on its southern continental shelf.
China is objecting both physically and rhetorically, citing its historic claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.