在越南宣布領土主張後，中國在北部灣舉行實彈演習

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

China holds live-fire exercises in Gulf of Tonkin after Vietnam marks its territorial claims

DAVID RISING

Mon, February 24, 2025 at 2:56 a.m. PST·2 min read

BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the two countries.

China's Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run through Thursday evening.

It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin.

State-run Vietnam News reported that the baseline was in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and would provide "a robust legal basis for safeguarding and exercising Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction."

Vietnam has not publicly responded to the Chinese drills.

China and Vietnam have long had a maritime agreement governing the Gulf of Tonkin, but have been locked in competing claims in the nearby South China Sea over the Spratly and Paracel Islands and maritime areas.

China has been growing aggressive in pursuing those claims, and in October assaulted 10 Vietnamese fishermen near the Paracel Islands, three of whom suffered broken limbs.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, though it has not publicly released exact coordinates of its claim other than a map with 10 dashed lines broadly demarcating what it calls its territory.

In addition to Vietnam, China's claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, while Indonesia has also figured in violent confrontations with the Chinese coast guard and fishing fleets in the waters around the Natuna Islands.

Tensions have been particularly high with the Philippines, with regular confrontations between the two countries.

Most recently, a Chinese navy helicopter flew within 10 feet (3 meters) of a Philippine patrol plane last week over the South China Sea, near the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

Leaders in Australia and New Zealand also said China should have given more warning before its navy conducted an unusual series of live-fire exercises in the seas between the two countries, forcing flights on Friday and Saturday to divert on short notice.

Political leaders from both countries emphasized that China didn’t breach international law, but said they had only been given “a couple hours notice” rather than the usual 12 to 24 hours.

Translation

在越南宣布領土主張後，中國在北部灣舉行實彈演習

（美聯社） - 中國當局表示，他們於週一開始在北部灣舉行實彈演習，而就在幾天前，越南宣布了一條新的分界線，在兩國之間水域標示了認為是它的領土。

中國海事局表示，演習將集中在北部灣海域，靠近北部灣中國一側，演習將持續到週四晚間。

越南沒有透露更多細節，但這次演習是在越南上周宣布劃定其用於計算其北部灣領海寬度的基線之後進行的。

國營媒體《越南新聞》報道稱，該基線符合《聯合國海洋法公約》，並將提供為「維護和行使越南主權、主權的權利, 和管轄權的堅實法律基礎」。

越南尚未公開回應中國的演習。

中國和越南長期以來一直就北部灣管理達成海洋協議，但在附近的南海，兩國對南沙群島、西沙群島及海域有主權爭議。

中國在追求南海主權主張問題上愈發激進，並於10月在西沙群島附近襲擊了10名越南漁民，其中三人受骨折損傷。

中國聲稱對幾乎整個南海擁有主權，但除了一張以 10 條虛線大致劃定其領土範圍的地圖外，並未公開發布其主張的確切座標。

除越南外，中國的主權主張也與菲律賓、馬來西亞、汶萊和台灣的主權主張重疊，而印尼也在Natuna 群島附近海域與中國海警和漁船隊發生激烈衝突。

中菲關係尤其緊張，兩國經常發生衝突。

最近，一架中國海軍直升機上週在南海上空飛行，距離菲律賓巡邏機不到 10 英尺（3 公尺），該海域靠近菲律賓西北部有激烈爭議的黃岩島。

澳洲和紐西蘭領導人也表示，中國海軍在兩國間海域舉行一系列不同尋常的實彈演習，導致周五和周六的航班被迫臨時改道，認為在演習前中國應給予更多警告。

兩國政治領袖都強調中國沒有違反國際法，但表示他們只收到了 “幾個小時的通知”，而不是通常的12到24小時。

       So, Chinese authorities begin live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin only days after Vietnam announces a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the two countries. China has been growing aggressive in pursuing sovereignty claims in the past few months towards Vietnam. Apparently, the confrontation is escalating.