China, Vietnam to Look Beyond Sea Disputes
Vietnamese Communist leader Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to make joint efforts to manage the South China Sea row.
Both countries agreed to friendly negotiations, and the possibility of joint development projects to settle their differences over the resource rich South China Sea.
Among the proposals put forward by Li Keqiang include joint inspections with Vietnam in the waters at the mouth of the Beibu Gulf. The waters of the Beibu Gulf, which borders Guangxi and northern Vietnam, have not been completely delineated.
The leaders stated that they would “proactively look for transitional resolution methods which do not affect both side’s position, including looking at and discussing joint development” said a joint communiqué.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said the China-Vietnam traditional friendship is precious wealth shared by the two parties, the two nations and the people of the two countries, worthy of being cherished and taken good care of. Xi has also accepted an invitation to visit Vietnam. A date for that trip hasn't been set.
Anti-Chinese violence flared in Vietnam last year after a $1-billion deepwater rig owned by CNOOC was parked 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea.
Tensions at sea escalated when the two sides strengthened their presence in the operation area by sending more vessels - law-enforcement as well as fishing vessels - to thwart each other's actions.
Since then, however, China has sought to make amends with Vietnam, including sending senior officials to Hanoi.
China claims more than 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia — much to the chagrin the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam.
