August 9, 2019, By Vietnam Weekly
I'll close this week with the East Sea. According to Ryan Martinson, the Haiyang Dizhi 8 survey ship has docked at Fiery Cross Reef, which is claimed by China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Reuters also reported this development, which would mean the vessel has left Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), though several Chinese Coast Guard ships are thought to remain in the area. Yesterday, the foreign ministry confirmed that the ship left the EEZ on Wednesday afternoon, according to the same news source.
On Tuesday, friend of the letter James Pearson reported for Reuters that Vietnamese police had broken up a small protest outside of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi.
The state press, meanwhile, has continued to provide tough messaging toward China: Viet Nam News ran an interview with a Navy rear admiral about the force's capabilities - it's not hard to figure out who that was aimed at; andVnExpress covered the Foreign Ministry's comments on military drills which China held in the East Sea earlier this week.
For more analysis, read David Hutt in Asia Times.
