Vietnam, China start their border talks<\/p>\n
HANOI (Reuter): Vietnamese and Chinese ministers held talks
\nyesterday on border issues and problems in the South China Sea,
\nwhere the two communist neighbors dispute territorial waters and
\noil-drilling rights.<\/p>\n
\"To sit together and talk is better than to dispute,\"
\nVietnam's delegation leader, deputy foreign minister Vu Khoan,
\ntold reporters in the Vietnamese capital before starting the
\ntalks, scheduled to last four days.<\/p>\n
Welcoming his Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan, on a fine day
\nin Hanoi, Khoan said the signs were good.<\/p>\n
\"Given clement weather, favorable terrain and concord between
\nthe two peoples, it is sure that our talks will make progress,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Khoan and Tang will review the results of four rounds of
\ndiscussions by experts since they first met in Beijing a year ago
\nand agreed that China and Vietnam would shun the use of force to
\nresolve border disputes.<\/p>\n
They signed that landmark agreement last October, two years
\nafter Vietnam and China normalized relations to end more than a
\ndecade of hostility following Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia
\nand a border war in 1979.<\/p>\n
But Hanoi and Beijing remain in dispute over the Spratly
\nIslands -- where their armed forces clashed in 1988 -- and over
\nChina's claim to most of the South China Sea and associated oil
\nprospection rights.<\/p>\n
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also claim the
\npotentially oil-rich Spratlys, in whole or in part.<\/p>\n
Second round<\/p>\n
Khoan told reporters: \"This is the second round of
\nnegotiations at (the) ministerial level... We will discuss South
\nChina Sea problems. Naturally, we will review our negotiations at
\n(the) expert level on the land border and in the Tonkin Gulf
\ntoo.\"<\/p>\n
Western diplomats said they expected the two sides to avoid
\ndiscussing the South China Sea disputes in detail in the
\ninterests of maintaining good relations.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Chinese ships were blocking a Vietnamese oil rig
\ndrilling in an area west of the Spratlys, Khoan said: \"I have no
\ninformation about it. Everything is normal now.\"<\/p>\n
Oil industry sources said the Vietnamese rig was still
\noperating last week in the area, called Tu Chinh by the
\nVietnamese and Wan'an Bei by the Chinese, but Vietnam has not
\nofficially confirmed reports that drilling is going on.<\/p>\n
News reports that Chinese warships are preventing the
\nVietnamese rig from working or blocking supplies have not been
\nconfirmed.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think there's a stand-off out there with gunboats and
\neverything,\" a foreign oilman said.<\/p>\n
Vietnam's state-controlled newspapers did not comment on the
\ntalks with China, and Tang's presence was overshadowed on the
\nfront pages by an official visit to Hanoi by President Nouhak
\nPhoumsavan of Laos, their mutual neighbor.<\/p>\n
Three working sessions are scheduled this week, and the
\nChinese delegation is due to meet Vietnamese President Le Duc
\nAnh, who visited China last November.<\/p>\n
The Chinese negotiators are also scheduled to visit Halong
\nBay, a scenic group of islands in the Tonkin Gulf.<\/p>\n
A Vietnamese official said the delegation would return to
\nChina across the land border on Friday near the town of Lang Son,
\nwhere considerable cross-border trade takes place.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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