Top Chinese diplomat in Vietnam for talks to ease tensions in South China Sea
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi is in Vietnam for talks aimed at easing tension over territorial disputes in South China Sea. He is also expected to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in Hanoi. China's foreign ministry said Beijing hoped to have a "frank and deep exchange of opinions". The standoff between Hanoi and Beijing took a turn for the worse after China's decision in early May, to build a platform for oil exploration, the Haiyang Shiyou 981 off the east coast of Vietnam. A move that has exacerbated nationalism of a large portion of the Vietnamese population , which has responded with street protests that have taken a violent drift characterized by riots and assaults that have led to at least 2 deaths and 140 injured. In response, Hanoi promoted nationalist protests, targeted attacks against foreign companies, burnings and assaults that killed at least two people dead and over 140 injured. The following days also saw Chinese naval assaults on Vietnamese fishing vessels.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said the oil rig would be discussed during talks with Mr Yang. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement that she hoped Vietnam could "focus on the big picture".
Mr Yang's visit is the highest-level direct contact since May. China has said the rig will remain in its present location until August. Both countries have taken the dispute to the United Nations and have submitted dossiers on their claims to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
According to Vietnamese activists and nationalists, China has taken advantage of instability and conflict in the Ukraine, Syria, Iran and North Korea to begin its project to colonize the seas- through the installation of the oil rig. A project that stands in stark contrast to the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the eastern seas (DOC) and the UN Convention on the Seas (UNCLOS). In contrast, Beijing had accused Vietnam of "provocations" in the South China Sea, claiming its ships had been rammed more than 1,400 times by Vietnamese vessels. Over the weekend Beijing announced it will build a school in the Paracel Islands.
Vietnam and the Philippines have been increasingly worried about Beijing's imperialism in the South China and East China seas. The Chinese government claims most of the sea (almost 85 per cent), including sovereignty over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands, in opposition to Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. In recent months, China has used various political, economic and diplomatic means to hamper non-Chinese vessels from fishing or moving through the disputed waters. For the United States, which backs the claims of Southeast Asia nations, Beijing's so-called 'cow tongue' line is both "illegal" and "irrational". Anyone with a hegemonic sway over the region would have a strategic advantage, in terms of seabed (oil and gas) development, but also in trade since two thirds of the world's maritime trade transit through it.
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