Amidst the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian war, China staged a military drill near the Vietnamese sea. Why?
A day before, as the world is being distracted by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, China announced a surprising military drill only at late minutes. While these actions implied the politeness of the Chinese state, the territory it took place for the drill located very near Vietnamese territory - in fact, it was close to two Vietnamese cities, Huế and Đà Nẵng and only further a bit from the city of Sanya in Hainan island - which is the home to an important Chinese naval base. The drill will last until 15 March. Location of China's naval drill according from Google Vietnam. With the drill ongoing and the area is forbidden, one questions to ask: what does China plan for? Vietnam as a favourite target? Fellow communist Vietnam can be the reason why China feels it could exercise its influence in the neighbour. As far as 2014, reports about China manning military exercises were well-known and the favourite target for China is actually not anyone else - it is Vietnam that it aime...