Hanoi has purportedly moved new mobile rocket launchers on bases in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Vietnam has quietly expanded its military capabilities in the South China Sea by purportedly deploying new Israel-made long-range mobile rocket launchers on five bases in the Spratly Islands in recent months, Reuters revealed on August 10.
Three unidentified sources claim that the so-called Extended Range Artillery Rocket (EXTRA) system has yet to be armed and has been carefully hidden from aerial surveillance on the disputed islands. The weapon systems, nevertheless, could be made operational within two to three days.
The EXTRA rocket launchers have purportedly been moved to the Vietnamese possessions in the Spratlys in anticipation of heightened tensions following the July ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration on maritime entitlements and the status of features in the South China Sea.
Japan's foreign minister has warned that ties with China are "significantly deteriorating", after Chinese vessels repeatedly entered disputed waters in the East China Sea.
Fumio Kishida said he had called China's ambassador to protest against the "incursions".
On Friday, about 230 Chinese fishing boats and coast guard vessels sailed near islands claimed by both countries.
Beijing has been increasingly assertive about waters it believes are Chinese.
The Japan-controlled, uninhabited islands - known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China - are the source of a long-running dispute.
DYI Comments: War drums are beating! The pursuit of natural resources as China expands its reach for deposits of oil and gas along with fishing rights. China versus Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, pulling in the good old USA. China, if their news media is to be believed, believes war with the U.S. is destined to happen. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail...
DYI
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