HANOI, Vietnam — A senior Chinese official will hold talks here on Wednesday with Vietnam about the contentious deep-sea oil rig stationed by China in disputed waters, the two countries announced Tuesday.
The official, Yang Jiechi, will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh of Vietnam in the first high-level discussions between the two countries since early May, when sea vessels from the two sides rammed each other near the installation.
Mr. Yang, a state councilor with a foreign policy portfolio, is known as a blunt promoter of China’s expansion in the South China Sea, and he is unlikely to offer concessions or a breakthrough in the tense situation, said diplomats here, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
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Territorial Disputes in the Waters Near China
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Mr. Yang will emphasize that Vietnam should not look to the United States for moral or material support, the diplomats said.
The Obama administration condemned the deployment of the oil rig as a “provocative” action but has shown no inclination to get involved in the dispute beyond expressing displeasure at China’s unilateral move.
The question of how far Vietnam should go in seeking support from the international community has bedeviled the Communist Party leadership here. Some of the 16 members of the Politburo are believed to lean toward the United States, while others remain more loyal to China and its Communist Party.
The skirmishes between coast guard boats from China and Vietnam around the rig have alarmed American officials who fear that an episode could lead to conflict.
But in the last several weeks, the situation appeared to have eased into “dangerous stability,” said an American administration official familiar with the flotillas of Vietnam and China.
A foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing, Hua Chunying, said Tuesday that Mr. Yang would encourage a “frank and thorough exchange of views on matters of common concern to all.”
“We hope Vietnam will focus on the broader picture, come together with China and appropriately deal with the current situation,” she said.
The visit of Mr. Yang, China’s top diplomat, comes as relations between Vietnam and China have been essentially frozen since the arrival of the rig on May 2. Anti-Chinese riots spread through several cities, and looting of factories believed to be Chinese-owned resulted in the deaths of at least four Chinese workers. China evacuated several thousand workers after the riots, leaving some companies in Vietnam, which are dependent on China for supplies and skilled labor, short of employees.
Mr. Yang is expected to meet with Mr. Minh, who is also Vietnam’s foreign minister, but it was not known if he would meet with more leaders, officials said.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam said that he would consider a legal case against China at the United Nations, in the same way that the Philippines has initiated an arbitration case against China. Beijing roundly criticized Mr. Dung’s suggestion.
A version of this article appears in print on June 18, 2014, on page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: China Sends Top Diplomat to Begin Talks With Vietnam.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/world/asia/china-to-begin-talks-with-vietnam-over-territorial-dispute-in-south-china-sea.html
China, Vietnam to hold 1st talks in oil rig dispute
A Chinese oil rig Haiyang Shi You 981(C) is seen in the South China Sea, about 130 miles off shore of Vietnam, May 14, 2014 Reuters
HANOI, Vietnam -- A top Chinese diplomat arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for the first high-level meeting between the two countries since China's deployment of a giant oil rig off the Vietnamese coast last month increased tensions between the neighbors.
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi is scheduled to have talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on Wednesday. He also is to meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Yang's visit is the highest-level meeting between the two governments since the rig was deployed May 1, sparking anti-China riots in Vietnam that killed five Chinese nationals and injured hundreds more.
Yang and Minh will discuss the oil rig when they meet at an annual bilateral event Yang is attending, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh told reporters Monday.
"As we have affirmed many times, Vietnam has always been patient to look for dialogue with China to peacefully resolve the tension in the East Sea," Binh said, referring to the South China Sea. "This meeting, therefore, will surely be a channel and an event where the two sides can discuss the issue to find solutions to the current tension."
Minh and Yang spoke by phone in early May. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said at the time that Minh denounced China's placement of the oil rig, saying it seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty, and demanded that China immediately withdraw the rig and its escorting vessels.
China's official Xinhua News Agency, however, quoted Yang as telling Minh that Vietnam should stop harassing China's normal drilling operations.
China has said its ships have been rammed more than 1,500 times by Vietnamese vessels since the dispute began. On Monday, Col. Ngo Ngoc Thu, deputy commander of Vietnam's coast guard, dismissed the allegations, saying that 36 Vietnamese vessels have been rammed, and that 15 Vietnamese fisheries patrol staff and two fishermen have been injured.
Thu also disputed Chinese accusations that Vietnamese divers left obstacles in the water to disrupt drilling operations. He said Vietnam did not use divers near the rig but that fishermen were forced to leave behind nets and other equipment because Chinese ships used water cannons to force the fishing boats to retreat.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-vietnam-to-hold-1st-talks-in-oil-rig-dispute/
HANOI, Vietnam, June 18 (UPI) --China may be working to de-escalate the crisis that erupted when it sent a drilling rig to waters disputed with Vietnam, a former Vietnamese diplomat said.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2014/06/18/Chinese-Vietnam-oil-thaw-in-the-works/1971403100584/#ixzz3515Jj3uF
Chinese, Vietnam oil thaw in the works
Situation may de-escalate, former Vietnamese diplomat says.
By Daniel J. Graeber | June 18, 2014 at 10:31 AM
Chinese and Vietnamese leaders meet in Hanoi to work out differences over oil rig working in disputed waters. (UPI Photo/U.S. Navy)
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Chinese and Vietnamese officials met Wednesday in Hanoi to discuss their differences over the May deployment of a Chinese oil rig in contested waters.
Both sides have accused the other of stoking tensions. China has made its case to the United Nations, while Vietnamsaid the action is a threat to its sovereignty.
Duong Danh Dy, the former Vietnamese consul general to Guangzhou, China, told Voice of America the meeting in Hanoi may be a sign of a pending thaw.
"China has recently moved the rig and it appears that China is prepared for gradual de-escalation," he said.
The U.S. government, which owns Voice of America, said it has no stance on the territorial claims, but views China as the aggressor in the situation.
The Chinese government said both sides would work to resolve the conflict through political and diplomatic means. Through its official Xinhua News Agency, Beijing stressed it was operating in its territory in the region as part of a regular exploration effort.
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Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2014/06/18/Chinese-Vietnam-oil-thaw-in-the-works/1971403100584/#ixzz3515Jj3uF
