Johnson South commemoration signals apparent shift in Vietnam government policy

Vietnam marks the 35th anniversary of the Johnson South skirmish in the South China Sea this week with a series of commemorations signaling an apparent shift in the national approach to the historic event.

In the short but bloody battle that took place at the uninhabited Johnson South Reef in Union Banks on March 14, 1988, Chinese Navy troops backed by three warships shot dead 64 Vietnamese soldiers as they attempted to land and lift a flag to claim control. over the reef.

They also sank two Vietnamese transport ships and captured nine soldiers.

Ten days later, China occupied another feature in the South China Sea, Subi Reef, and by the end of 1988 it took possession of six atolls and rocks within the Spratly Archipelago.

Reclamation work was carried out on all of them and three largest features, Subi Reef, Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross Reef, have been fully militarized with missile arsenals, radar systems and other military installations, According to the US Navy

Every year since 1988, the Vietnamese public has been holding ceremonies to honor fallen soldiers, long without government approval, as Hanoi was careful not to fuel anti-China sentiment among the population and offend its great neighbor.

Several public rallies to commemorate the Johnson South skirmish in the past were broken up by authorities who did not want the crowd to get out of control.

Recently though there have been notable changes.

‘heinous crime’

Official accounts from China and Vietnam differ on what happened on March 14, 1988.

According to Chinese naval troops, the Vietnamese side attacked them after a dispute, but Vietnam said the Chinese navy opened fire on the unarmed Vietnamese soldiers first.

The Vietnamese media, which for years omitted the word ‘China’ from its reporting on the event, has now begun to use more confrontational language.

VietnamNet, one of the largest news portals, in an editorial on Sunday called China’s actions in 1988 “wicked and gross violations of international law.”

On the same day, a large commemoration was held in Danang, one of Vietnam’s main seaports.

The official Voice of Vietnam also dedicated a prominent page on its website to the anniversary.

“We should sober up and memorize this heinous crime that China committed against the Vietnamese martyrs,” Nguyen Dinh Bin, a former acting vice foreign minister, wrote on Facebook.

“We should strive to develop the relationship with China into one of peace, cooperation and mutual respect,” Bin wrote, noting that these “most important bilateral relations for Vietnam must conform to international law as well as the norms of modern civilization.”

However, government and military officials have warned of the need to keep a “cool head” and not let feelings take over strategic calculations.

“We need to remain lucid and rational in our dealings with China,” said a senior Vietnamese naval official who wished to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to foreign media.

“The goal is a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea,” he told RFA, “we still have a long way to go.”

Diplomats from the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN and China held a three-day meeting in Jakarta last week to discuss the COC.

China and four ASEAN countries (Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam) have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing’s claim is by far the largest.

A legally binding COC can help reduce tension and prevent conflict in the region.

Edited by Mike Firn.