HANOI--A top Chinese diplomat met with Vietnam's foreign
minister in Hanoi on Wednesday as the two sides seek to resolve a
standoff over a territorial dispute.
The meeting between Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and
Vietnamese Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh
Minh is the first high-level talks between the two countries
following the deployment last month by a Chinese state-run energy
company of an oil rig in waters claimed by Hanoi.
"China and Vietnam relations are experiencing a difficult
period," Mr. Yang said. "On this trip, as appointed by our Central
Committee, I am to discuss candidly and thoroughly with Mr. Pham
Binh Minh the two countries' relations and current issues in the
South China Sea."
Vietnam said the oil rig was deployed within its
200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, while China said the
energy company was carrying out normal activities in its waters and
that it is entitled to conduct drilling operations within its own
territory.
The two sides have been accusing each other of ramming each
other's boats near the oil rig. Vietnam earlier this month released
video footage showing a Chinese fishing vessel ramming and sinking
a Vietnamese fishing boat.
The tension has sparked anti-Chinese protests throughout
Vietnam, several of which turned violent last month, leaving at
least three Chinese nationals dead and hundreds of foreign-owned
factories damaged.
"We wish to discuss and resolve the complicated situation in the
[South China Sea] and to help develop healthy and stable relations
between the two countries for the benefit of both sides and the
region," Mr. Minh said at the meeting.
Mr. Yang is scheduled to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung and Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of Vietnam's
Communist Party, later Wednesday.
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