After the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Daniel Russel's visit to Vietnam on May 7, the disputes between China and Vietnam have flared up again.

With the open support of the United States, Vietnam held news conferences in which it raised its tone against China and sent ships to interrupt the legitimate drilling operations of a Chinese company near the Xisha Islands; it even connived in domestic protests against Chinese enterprises, which finally resulted in Chinese citizens being killed and injured and huge damage to Chinese enterprises in Vietnam.

In the evolution from territorial disputes to friction then to bloodshed, the US culpability is evident. It is obviously trying to use the dispute between China and Vietnam, as well as the other territorial disputes in the South and East China seas to contain China.