Border? What Border?

By Janice Castro

When the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meets this week in Manila, VIETNAM will be pleading for support in resisting growing Chinese aggression. Just eight months ago, China and Vietnam normalized relations. Their border was opened. Trade blossomed. Assistance flowed from Beijing. But last month Chinese warships sailed into the South China Sea to renew China's claim to the Spratly Islands, which Vietnam counts as its own. Ignoring Vietnam's complaints, China has sold oil and gas exploration rights in the area to a Denver firm. Meanwhile, Chinese troops have moved border markers deeper into Vietnam, and many Chinese visitors seem determined to stay. To Vietnam, what looked like detente is beginning to feel more and more like subservience.