Imagine, you are a fisherman in a small village along the coast going to work, trying to make a living to support you and your family. It is a beautiful day and you are headed to the same waters that generations of your ancestors had also fished in. You are in the open sea, casting your nets, and going about your day when suddenly a military patrol vessel approaches you. They assault you, seize the fish you spent hours catching and destroy your equipment. Now, instead of returning home with your earnings, you return needing medical attention, expenses to replace what was damaged, and no source of income. This is the harsh reality that Vietnamese fishermen have dealt with recently from the longstanding disputes over territorial claims and exclusive economic zones within the South China Sea. The conflicting territorial claims are between China and the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.

 

Recently a summit was called to action by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address China’s recent aggressive actions taken in the South China Sea, which China has shrugged off as means to protect their waters. During the meeting, China deflected the blame placed on them for the internal conflicts and lack of solutions, and instead shifted it to “external forces.” The US was not named specifically in the meeting, however, China had previously warned the US to stay out of their business in response to sending aircrafts and naval ships to monitor the waters during the conflict.

 

For years there have been talks between ASEAN and China discussing how to achieve peace in these shared waters, however, minor disagreements have left the nations with no solution to this point. While these issues are being discussed and solutions are being sought out, China has been overstepping boundaries by clashing with Philippine ships on multiple occasions over the past year, assaulting Vietnamese fishermen in the undefined waters, and has sent patrol vessels into Indonesia and Malaysia’s exclusive economic zones. 

 

This has gone past solely a political issue once China began interfering with the culture of countries like Vietnam who just want to maintain their ways of life and fish in the same areas as their ancestors before them. ASEAN has not taken action to protect their citizens sooner because China is their top trading partner. However, they are growing tired of being walked over by China abusing their power and doing whatever they want. These nations are fed up, but this is such a sensitive matter for ASEAN and their economy that, in the original article, they remained anonymous in their interviews so as to not provoke China’s anger with their country. This matter has been tiptoed around for so long that resentment has built up, and ASEAN nations are finally building up the courage to stand up for their valued cultural land to protect their history and their future.