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strong>May 25, p5

What a difference the passage of five decades makes.

Back in the mid-1960s, the support provided by the Chinese was the Vietnamese people'€™s lifeline in their deadly struggle against the American invaders.

The help from up north was critical in seeing to it that the mighty US military eventually had to flee the country, tail between its legs.

Your comments:

The Pacific has not seen a potential threat to harmony like this since the Japanese aggression of the 1930s. Japan, emerging from World War II with the reward of former German colonies, set out to be equal to the US and European powers.

This latest threat from China is different in nature because it is not about territory but resources. This new situation is also different because the area is in dispute.

While Vietnamese nationalism is an undercurrent of its resistance to the Chinese, Vietnam must also accept that these circumstances are very different to repelling invaders on its territory. Resistance is important but it makes unilateral actions costly. However, resistance together with other ASEAN countries may be sufficient to get China to negotiate terms that are beneficial to all parties.

Jagera