The recent tactical withdrawal of a giant Chinese oil rig from waters claimed by both Beijing and Hanoi does not herald a change in China’s strategy of staking out claims in large swaths of the South China Sea that have bedeviled the two ideologically communist allies over the past years. The retreat has come at a convenient juncture for the pro-Chinese faction of the Vietnamese Communist Party to preempt any planned legal action against China and thwart the highly-anticipated alliance with the U.S.
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