A dangerous trend

The dispute is about more than just gaining access to oil- and gas-rich maritime areas. The countries making territorial claims in the South China Sea and the East China Sea are also turning this into an issue of national pride. The placement of a Chinese oil platform in disputed waters is just the latest in a series of incidents showcasing the dangerous nationalistic trend in the region.

China's state-owned oil rig named HD-981 was deployed to waters close to the Paracel Islands in early May and Beijing sent some 80 ships, including seven military vessels, along with aircraft to support it. The surprising thing about this is that most experts agree that there aren't any large crude oil deposits at the rig's current location.

One can therefore assume that China wants to send this message to the region: "We won't let anyone tell us what to do and that applies as much to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as to the United Nations and the United States."

By installing the oil rig, China did not only violate the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), it also broke other international commitments, such as the Declaration of Conduct for Parties in the South China Sea. Beijing also seems unimpressed by President Barack Obama's reassurance to Japan and the Philippines that the US would support them in the event of an attack.

Vietnam reacted swiftly to the latest Chinese move by dispatching 29 ships to either disrupt or delay the rig's placement and operations. But this only led to several collisions between ships of both countries as well as the use of water cannons by the Chinese. Six Vietnamese crew members were injured in the process.

The Vietnamese government approved anti-China protests over the weekend, a decision that led to the start of violent agitation across the country this week. The protesters indiscriminately attacked both Chinese factories and companies as well as those they thought belonged to China. In fact, many of the factories they damaged were Taiwanese and South Korean. The rioters set at least 15 factories ablaze. At least 20 people died in the violence.

The nationalistic conflict in East and Southeast Asia has historical roots. Japan humiliated China and Korea with its imperial expansion on the East Asian mainland during World War II.

More recently, the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are amongst the honored, outraged both China and South Korea. On the other hand, Vietnam and China have been enemies for centuries. China considers Vietnam a former province - the one that "must be taught a lesson." In 1979, border clashes between the two nations claimed tens of thousands of lives.

All countries in the region should have learnt their lessons from history, but instead, they have further promoted jingoism. The communist parties in China and Vietnam use nationalism to legitimize their rule. Japan, on the other hand, is apprehensive of the rise of China, which could harm its interests. Nationalism is a tool to compensate for this weakness.

But nationalism has a side-effect. The latest escalation shows how difficult it is to control its dynamics once set in motion. Nationalism limits the diplomatic choices of governments which cannot negotiate freely without losing face.

Both China and Vietnam have misread the situation. While Beijing wasn't counting on such strong Vietnamese resistance, Hanoi didn't expect the protests to become so violent. In order for governments to regain their capacity to act freely, they most break free of the vicious circle of nationalism.