On April 13, 1993, in the South China Sea, the exploration ship "Experiment No. 2" of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was carrying out first-wave exploration operations to prepare for the joint oil exploration project between Christone and CNOOC.
However, the sudden appearance of five Vietnamese military vessels surrounded the exploration vessel, causing a tense atmosphere. The Vietnamese army issued a provocative shout over the South China Sea, claiming that it was Vietnam's territorial waters and demanding that the Chinese ships withdraw immediately or face all the consequences.
While shouting, they also aimed their machine guns at the "Experiment 2" exploration vessel.
In the face of Vietnam's arrogance, we did not show weakness, but confronted it head-on. During that period, tension was like an arrow on a string, ready to erupt at any time. What happened in 1993?
Why does Vietnam claim the South China Sea as their territorial waters? What was the outcome of that standoff? The South China Sea has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times. However, since 1840, when the British opened the door to China with strong ships and cannons, Western powers began to pour into China, and the South China Sea became the focus of contention.
If the Middle East is a powder keg of ethnic and regional conflicts, then the South China Sea is an attractive cake. The United States, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and other countries are eyeing this piece of the pie, hoping for a piece of the pie.
What makes the South China Sea so attractive is its strategic location. It connects the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and is the only route for all sea and air routes, and is known as the "energy pipe of Northeast Asia" and "China's maritime lifeline".
China is not the kind of country with few people and poor financial luck, and it does not need to rely on tolls such as straits and canals to make money. Therefore, in the management of the South China Sea, China does not restrict the normal navigation of other countries.
What really sparks contention is the rich oil resources in the South China Sea. According to a report by American marine geologist Emery, the three largest oil storage areas in the Asian continental shelf are in the South China Sea.
Recently, PetroChina discovered the first large shale oil field with reserves of more than 1 billion tons in the Ordos Basin. In the South China Sea, oil reserves near the Zengmu Shoal alone have reached 20 billion tons.
The 2.1 million square kilometers of the South China Sea contain at least 30 billion tons of oil, as well as abundant natural gas, combustible ice, phosphate rock and other precious resources.
The importance of oil is self-evident, and it is known as the "lifeblood of the country", which has a profound impact on national construction and people's lives. In the 70s, the United States took advantage of the peg between the US dollar and oil to establish the US dollar as the only currency of international oil, thus establishing economic hegemony.
Although the exact amount of oil reserves in the South China Sea in 1969 is not known, the mere fact that Emory described it as "Asia's largest oil storage area" is enough to provoke greed in other countries.
Since then, many countries around the world have begun to reach out, causing the situation in the South China Sea to become increasingly tense and chaotic. In the public's mind, the United States is the most arrogant in its actions on the South China Sea issue.
For many years, the United States has often conducted military exercises and demonstrated its strength in the waters around the South China Sea, and this year it even sent the "Reagan" and "Nimitz" aircraft carriers into the South China Sea.
The Southeast Asian countries surrounding the South China Sea are no less impressive, not only trying to destabilize the situation in the South China Sea, but also seeking real benefits from the South China Sea. Taking advantage of their geographical advantages, they wantonly invaded the South China Sea and occupied islands and reefs.
They even make up something out of nothing, claiming that the South China Sea is their territorial waters, and that the islands and reefs in the South China Sea are their territory. Of these countries, the largest and most egregious encroachment is undoubtedly Vietnam.
According to statistics, since 1975, the North and the South have been unified.
1. From the formal founding of the People's Republic of China to the end of the 20th century, Vietnam successively occupied 29 islands and reefs in the South China Sea, including Nanzi Island and Ao Nang Shoal.
By comparison, Chinese mainland actually controls only eight islands and reefs, and even with Taiwan Province, only 11 are controlled, less than half that of Vietnam.
For decades, the Vietnamese military has no scruples about entrenching itself on Chinese islands for a long time, wantonly building airports, radar stations, weather stations and other facilities, and privately classifying relevant maritime areas and territories into the "National Map of Vietnam".
The 1993 incursion into the South China Sea to drive away Chinese ships may well have been the result of Vietnam's long-term self-deception. As for Vietnam's unauthorized occupation and exploitation of oil fields in the South China Sea, we can start with the famous oil crisis.
In 1973, after the outbreak of the Fourth Middle East War, the Arab countries that held the world's oil power launched a large-scale "oil war" against Israel and its supporters.
A massive suspension of oil exports by Arab countries has led to an acute shortage of oil on the international market, and oil prices have soared exponentially. Driven by a huge oil market and interests, Vietnam, which has not yet ended its civil war, cannot wait to carry out oil exploration in the waters of the South China Sea.
As for how many oil fields Vietnam has seized in the South China Sea and how much oil is contained in them, we do not yet know. What is certain, however, is that Vietnam's three major oil fields, Baihu, Daxiong and Huanglong, in the western part of the Spratly Islands, have stored hundreds of millions of tons of oil.
What is even more egregious is that Vietnam not only privately exploits and occupies China's oil, but also signs cooperation agreements with the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, Canada and many other countries to lease oil exploration rights in disputed waters.
As early as the 70s of the last century, Vietnam has been salivating over the oil of the South China Sea and trying to plunder the oil resources of the South China Sea. In fact, China, as the de facto master of the South China Sea, is very low-key in its interests in the South China Sea, compared to Vietnam, an outsider.
This was evident in the 1993 confrontation. Back in 1992, the American company Christon Energy took the initiative to come to the door, hoping to cooperate with China in oil exploration and exploitation in the South China Sea.
Christon has long coveted the waters of the Wan'an Block in the Nansha Islands, because the Wan'an Beach of the Nansha Islands is one of the three major oil and gas rich areas in the South China Sea and has huge development potential.
However, at that time, Vietnam's aggression in the Spratly Islands was very arrogant, not only occupying the reefs of the Great Peninsula, but also reaching oil cooperation agreements with several countries. As a result, Christon also misunderstood the ownership of the VIE Yen block at the beginning and almost cooperated with Vietnam.
Fortunately, Christon's management was well aware of the controversial nature of the Wanan block, and in order to ensure that nothing went wrong, a large number of experts were hired to conduct an in-depth investigation, and finally confirmed that the Wanan block belonged to China's waters, so they approached China for cooperation.
China fully regained sovereignty over the South China Sea as early as 1947, but oil exploration in the South China Sea has been slow due to technological constraints and the impact of the international situation. In particular, the Nansha Islands have not been developed because of their long distance.
As a result, the cooperation proposed by Christone became China's first oil cooperation project in the Spratly Islands. If successfully implemented, it will not only be able to achieve a major breakthrough in Nansha oil, but also be able to declare China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands through the cooperation of American companies.
As a result, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Christon signed the "Wan'an North-21" oil development contract on May 8 of the same year. Although the cooperation was going well, on April 13, 1993, Vietnam suddenly jumped out and interrupted the first exploration of the contracted waters by a team of Chinese experts, causing the oil development plan to be blocked.
In 1993, five heavily armed Vietnamese military ships arrogantly intruded into the waters of China's Nansha Islands, encircling and shouting at our ships. Although the Chinese exploration experts did not have the best and combat experience, they made concerted efforts and stood guard in shifts, resolutely blocking the enemy's machine gun muzzles, showing great courage and determination.
However, they eventually received orders from their superiors and chose to evacuate on their own initiative. This made Zhao Yan and other witnesses linger for many years, and they have been thinking about whether they could insist on completing the first survey if they had not evacuated at that time, and the scene of Chinese oilmen who had not stepped into the waters of the Nansha Islands for 18 years may be different.
So, in the face of Vietnam's threat of force in China's territorial waters, why did our country not take countermeasures, but chose to forbear and withdraw?
China's military power had improved significantly by the end of the 20s, and even though Vietnam had the advanced ** left over from the Vietnam War, these were insignificant in the face of China's atomic and hydrogen bombs.
However, while China has the military strength to fight back against Vietnam, it has not chosen to do so. The reason is that China has always adhered to the concept of "peace is precious" and has always been committed to maintaining regional peace and stability.
In addition, since the speech of the South in 1992, China's economic structural reform and opening up to the outside world have entered a new stage. At this stage, it is not so important to fight back against Vietnam and successfully exploit the oil fields in the South China Sea compared to the rapid development of the country's economy.
After all, the situation in the South China Sea is very complex, and many countries are involved. If Vietnam had been suppressed by force in 1993, the South China Sea issue would not have been resolved.
China's firm stance and resolute actions on the issue of sovereignty in the South China Sea have long attracted widespread attention from all over the world. We know that temporary forbearance does not mean eternal retreat.
In 1993, China did not retaliate against Vietnam out of consideration for the overall situation, but China's sovereignty over the 2.1 million square kilometers of the South China Sea is unquestionable and inviolable.
Over the years, we have never stopped defending the South China Sea and recovering Nanhai Zhudao. At one time, in the entire South China Sea, Chinese mainland only controlled a few islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands, but with the start of the Xisha Naval Battle, the Nansha Naval Battle, and the Sino-Philippine Huangyan Island confrontation, China has completely recaptured the Xisha Islands and Zhongsha Islands, and the Dongsha Islands have been controlled by Taiwan Province.
Today, China has become a world-class power, with continuous improvement in economic, military and industrial capabilities, and continuous rise in international status and discourse. Although the South China Sea is still turbulent, we believe that as China grows stronger, it will be able to drive away all the aggressors that are eyeing it, and take back all the jurisdiction and resources of the South China Sea in all aspects.