No breakthroughs in maritime talks

No breakthroughs in maritime talks

HANOI (AFP): Talks between Vietnam and China on maritime
limits in the Gulf of Tonkin have ended without any breakthroughs
but were considered productive, a Vietnamese official said
yesterday.

A member of Vietnam's Marine Affairs Department of the
National Border Committee and Continental Shelf Committee close
to the talks said the two sides "are always making progress".

The two countries held expert level talks from March 24
through March 30, the 10th such meetings to discuss overlapping
claims in the Gulf of Tonkin, and agreed to hold the 11th meeting
in Hanoi at the end of the year, he said.

During a visit to Beijing by then Vietnamese Communist Party
General Secretary Do Muoi in December, Vietnam and China agreed
to accelerate negotiations with the aim of settling their
disputes by 2000.