East Sea: is there undermining conspiracy, provocation? Vietnamese remind themselves to keep calm and rational on East Sea issues. Vietnamese condemn only the illegal acts ordered by the Chinese authorities and they understand that those Chinese who love peace are Vietnamese friends. Little chips lighted two world wars   China's HD-981 rig. Photo: Xinhua The assassination of Grand Duke Franz Ferdinand by a Serb nationalist in June 1911 was described as the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, igniting World War I. World’s War II also started from seemingly minor events, including the xenophobic wave (against German and German speaking people) in the territories which then belonged to Czechoslovakia and later Poland. However, both the world’s wars originated from big and underlying reasons – the countries’ internal contradictions, the conflicts among the nations. At that time, a new influence jumped into the geopolitical chessboard and quickly made some old unrivalled conquerors “legends of the past”. This is the case of the Commonwealth of the United States and the country’s wars it launched with Spain. After the fighting between the two, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, which had been Spanish colonies, became members of the Commonwealth of the United States. It is worth noting that both the world wars had the involvement of the US and the German thirst for becoming a hegemonic power. Historians stress that World War II broke out just after limited military conflicts. This was a “strange war”, where the British Empire and France had signed a pact on protecting Czechoslovakia. They declared war on Germany after Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Germans, but then did nothing. The US only entered the war after the Pearl Habor event in December 1941. It only fought with Japan on a limited scale and gave weapons and support to Britain and the Soviet Union. As for the Soviet Union, the support was carried out under the lend-lease contracts for which the Russians had to pay in gold later. China attempts to become an influence The People’s Republic of China, since its establishment in October 1949, has never stood up together with other countries in multilateral close alliances. In other words, it admits vassals and takes care not to let the vassals grow up. And of course, it does not want to be inferior to anyone. While Yugoslavia got separated from the East Eastern socialist countries’ bloc to follow its own way of development, China also got split from the community, becoming a confronter with the Soviet Union. A rift in relations between the two countries developed, the pinnacle of which was the Vietnam-China border conflict in 1979. During that time, China took diplomatic steps with clear calculations with the US. However, it always kept the relationship at a restricted level. While it tried to expand the economic relationship, it still kept up its guard. The 10-year Vietnam-China military confrontation ended temporarily 25 years ago. The time since then has been long enough for China to develop and turn into the second largest economy in the world, becoming the world’s base of production and thinking of expanding its influence around the globe. China is attempting to become an influence in the world. And the deployment of the oil rig in the Vietnamese waters is a step of its plan to become a new power. Vietnam vows to protect Vietnamese assets It is obvious that the enterprises set up in Vietnamese territories, even though they are invested by Chinese, are Vietnamese assets. Under current law, the foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam must be listed as Vietnamese, not foreign. As these are Vietnamese assets, Vietnamese have to protect them and keep them for the country and for Vietnam’s future. This is the legitimate right of Vietnam. Similar things have happened in history. After the first World War, Russia, or the Soviet Union since 1920, conducted negotiations with Germany about how to treat the assets Germans developed in Russia before the war. News has been spread out on Internet that the workers in Binh Duong Province have damaged the workshops and factories invested by Chinese and Taiwan. But local newspapers have reported that they only went on strike to protest against the Chinese illegal acts. Law enforcement and government agencies say they have found out that the destruction was caused by “suspicious people”. The US got involved in World War I and World War II step by step. Therefore, observers believe that the US will not get involved right now in the East Sea’s conflict. However, if the conflict expands and affects other countries in the region, including those with US alliances, the involvement of the US is very likely. Meanwhile, analysts say, Russia, a country with many existing territorial disputes with China, surely does not like a changeable neighbor like China. At present, China is Russia’s friend, but tomorrow, could easily be an enemy. If the situation in the East Sea cannot be resolved, or tensions at least eased, Russia will raise its voice. China also made an enemy of India in the 1962 border conflict, after which thousands of square kilometers fell into Chinese hands. If a war with Vietnam occurs in the East Sea, which would trigger the latent uncertainties in Tibet, analysts think India will take the advantage of the great opportunity. Why not? Phuc Lai, VietNamNet Bridge