Hanoi, Manila open talks

Hanoi, Manila open talks

HANOI (Reuter): The Philippines and Vietnam opened high-level
talks in Hanoi yesterday aimed at bolstering bilateral
cooperation, which was expected to include the issue of disputed
islands in the South China Sea.

The meeting of the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Commission for
Bilateral Cooperation was to be chaired by visiting Philippine
Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and Vietnam's Foreign Minister
Nguyen Manh Cam.

Officials said Siazon, who arrived on Sunday evening, would
meet Communist Party Secretary General Do Muoi later yesterday
and the head of the Hanoi People's Committee today before leaving
for a one-day visit to Ho Chi Minh City.

The Philippines said last month that President Fidel Ramos had
sent a message to Hanoi reiterating a Manila formula to settle
conflicting claims over the islands and that he had presented a
similar message to Chinese President Jiang Zemin in November.

The potentially oil-rich Spratly Islands in the South China
Sea are claimed wholly or in part by China, Vietnam, the
Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.