China and Vietnam will hold high-level talks on Wednesday as
relations remain strained over the deployment in early May of a
Chinese drilling platform to waters claimed by Hanoi and
Beijing.
The meeting between Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and
Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi will be the
first official contact between the Asian neighbors after more than
six weeks of angry confrontations.
While neither side is likely to back down in their dispute over
the Paracel Islands and the surrounding waters of the South China
Sea, the diplomatic opening is the first sign that Beijing and
Hanoi are seeking to de-escalate a standoff that has battered their
bilateral relations.
China's deployment of the rig sparked serious anti-Chinese riots
in Vietnam, and one Vietnamese boat was sunk in a collision with a
Chinese vessel in the vicinity of the drilling platform.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has blamed China for
"violating international law" through its actions in the South
China Sea, but Beijing has rebuffed such criticism, saying it is
entitled to conduct drilling operations within its own
territory.
The Chinese envoy will meet Mr. Dung after the talks with the
Vietnamese foreign minister.
"We hope that Vietnam keeps its eye on the broader picture,
meets China halfway and appropriately resolves the present
situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told
reporters on Tuesday.
Hanoi is considering taking legal action against Beijing, the
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry has confirmed, and Mr. Yang's visit may
be designed in part to persuade Vietnam against taking such a
course, which the Chinese government vehemently opposes.
Beijing has flatly rejected any involvement in an arbitration
case launched by the Philippines at an independent tribunal in The
Hague, and has also been critical of Vietnam whenever it has raised
the issue of its dispute with China in international fora.
However, the Chinese drilling platform, which is operated by
state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp., is still in the
disputed area. It seems unlikely Hanoi would be willing to make any
concessions until the rig has been removed. The rig is not due to
end operations there until Aug. 15.
Vu Trong Khanh and Chuin-Wei Yap contributed to this
article.
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