70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Home / Defend the sovereignty
CNOOC – Extension of China’s influence in South China Sea: Experts
Linh Pham 14:19, 2020/12/31
The third-largest Chinese state oil firm is said on the forefront of China’s sovereignty combat against the other countries.

Famous international experts have the same idea that China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has played a direct role in asserting China’s claims in the South China Sea (called East Sea by Vietnam).

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the third-largest Chinese state oil firm 

The comments were made after the US early this month added China’s third-largest national oil company CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies that have supported Beijing’s expanding assertion in the resource-rich sea.

CNOOC’s involvement in the South China Sea is seen as an extension of China’s influence in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer waterway, VOA cited Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.

“CNOOC is not just a company, but it’s also on the forefront of China’s sovereignty struggles, sovereignty combat, against the other countries,” Vuving said.

CNOOC is the first oil and gas company on the US black list that already has 35 Chinese companies from aerospace, chemical, construction, energy technology, and telecommunications sectors.

The listing will not take effect until it is published in the Federal Register.

 Alexander Vuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii (left), Carl Thayer, Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales, Canberra

According to famous expert on Southeast Asia studies – Emeritus Professor Carl Thayer at the University of New South Wales, CNOOC is said to have played a direct role in asserting China’s claims in the South China Sea, most prominently by operating the Hai Yang Shi You 981 movable oil rig that kickstarted a standoff between Vietnam and China in 2014.

Blacklisting CNOOC is the most recent action the US has taken to level the playing field between American companies who are compliant with US rules and Chinese companies who flout the rules in accessing the American market, Prof. Thayer said.

The blacklist aims to limit the ability of Chinese companies with military connections operating in the US from gaining access to emerging dual use (civilianmilitary) technologies.

The blacklisting aims to prohibit American investors from buying securities in blacklisted companies from November 2021.

Prof. Thayer said the blacklisting of CNOOC will have little impact on its offshore oil operations, including the South China Sea as very few US investors have purchased CNOOC securities.

Vuving said he thinks the US sanctions could hurt CNOOC mainly “in terms of prestige.”

That opinion is shared by Mark Valencia, of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies. He wrote in a recent Asia Times commentary the U.S. sanctions could reduce CNOOC’s stock value and “severely damage the company’s reputation.”

RELATED NEWS
TAG: CNOOC third-largest China influence South China Sea Carl Thayer Alexander Vuving
Other news
07:36, 2023/10/27
“Grey zone” activities cast a shadow over cooperation and peaceful prospects in East Sea
Grey zone activities augment the risk of confrontation, destabilize the governance of regional laws and orders, and undermine international laws.
22:51, 2023/09/21
Vietnam becomes one of first nations to sign High Seas Treaty
Signing the agreement signaled that Vietnam is an active and responsible member of the international community.
17:41, 2023/07/07
BlackPink concert threatened with cancellation over sovereignty issue
BlackPink's concert may be ruined after Vietnamese netizens found out that the organizer, iME Entertainment Group Asia, displays the nine-dash line on its website.
19:03, 2023/05/18
Vietnam opposes China’s violations in East Sea
Vietnam said it has the legal basis and evidence to prove its sovereignty over islands in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea).
17:53, 2023/05/04
Issuing items with former South Vietnamese flag inappropriate for Vietnam-Australia relations: MoFA
The issuance of items in Australia sporting the flag of the former South Vietnamese regime drew criticism from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
18:26, 2023/04/20
China’s fishing ban violates Vietnam’s sovereignty: Spokesman
Beijing’s unilateral fishing ban covers areas including Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracels).