China puts new weapons and warships through paces in live-fire drills near Vietnam
- Hanoi not expected to voice strong objections to exercises, military expert says
The Chinese navy is conducting a week-long exercise in the Gulf of Tonkin to test new warships and weapons, military experts said.
The Maritime Safety Administration posted “no sail” notices for three parts of the gulf, warning vessels not to enter the zones because of live-fire drills. The exercises began on August 9 and are expected to end on Sunday.
The exercises overlapped with three days of naval training from Tuesday near the Paracel chain of islands in the disputed South China Sea.
The exercises are being staged amid tensions between China and Vietnam over the presence of a Chinese survey ship near the energy-rich Vanguard Bank, which Hanoi has declared part of its exclusive economic zone.
Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military expert, said he did not expect Vietnam to voice a strong objection to the latest drills, despite their taking place in nearby waters.
“China and Vietnam reached a maritime delimitation agreement in 2000 to settle their [territorial] disputes in the Gulf of Tonkin,” he said. “So Vietnam cannot point its finger at China now [about these exercises].