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.