Silent Lonesome Man

“Who wishes to fight must first count the cost.” - Sun Tzu. “No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one.” - Dwight Eisenhower. When China has been doing in South China Sea is now seen as " the largest military buildup since the World War II ", it can be understood that the Chinese state is planning for a total war. China's growing efforts to militarise its disputed territories came with no surprise. The Chinese are watching the war in Ukraine, where its ally, Vladimir Putin's Russia, has waged against since 23 February. Initially, Beijing expected Russia would make a swift blitzkrieg to conquer Ukraine, taking Kyiv with little bloodshed. One another thing for China to watch the Russian invasion was, if it could help the United States feel distracted and would halt its pivot to Asia, China could enhance its power in Asia. A Russian victory would've been even more to celebrate for China, if it could have really happened. However...

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...