Why China’s Flash Points in Asia Persist Despite a Network of Crisis Hotlines
Voice of America
TAIPEI - A growing network of crisis-defusing telephone hotlines between China and other Asian countries shows Beijing’s intent to strengthen those relations but does not resolve the wider disputes that could spark conflict, analysts believe.
Officials in Beijing expect these phone connections to show “we are cooperating” but without policy changes that would calm its neighbors, said Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. Most acts that anger other countries in disputed waterways are planned rather than sudden, he believes. “In actuality it doesn’t really reduce tension, because tension is most of the time deliberate,” Vuving said of Sino-Vietnamese relations. “China and Vietnam also take care to keep the tension below the threshold of an open conflict.” The navy hotline will ensure Sino-Vietnamese goodwill until the next planned upset, analysts believe. Each side has angered the other over the past seven years by exploring for oil under or near disputed tracts of the South China Sea. Last year Vietnam protested to China over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei performs prayer at a funeral for victims of a helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Abdollahian and others, in Tehran, Iran, May 22, 2024. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters) Mourners attend a funeral for victims of the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and others, in Tehran, Iran, May 22, 2024. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters) Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, right, offers his condolences to Iran's caretaker president, Mohammad Mokhber, and other officials in Tehran on May 22, 2024. (Iraqi Prime Minister's Press Office via AFP)
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People queue up to vote outside a polling booth during the fifth round of multi-phase national election in Howrah, India, May 20, 2024. A woman carrying her daughter leaves after casting vote in a polling station during the fifth round of multi-phase national elections in Mumbai, India, May 20, 2024.
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