China says it, Vietnam agree talks needed over sea (AP)

HANOI, Vietnam – China and Vietnam have agreed to settle their dispute over the South China Sea through negotiations, Beijing said Sunday as protesters in Hanoi marched for the fourth straight week to voice their outrage at their country's more powerful neighbor.

China and Vietnam have traded diplomatic jabs over the past month after clashes in parts of the oil-rich sea claimed by both countries. But China's Foreign Ministry said the countries had agreed to deal with the dispute "through negotiations and peaceful, friendly consultations," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

It said the State Councilor Dai Bingguo, a veteran diplomat, met Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son in Beijing on Saturday. Xinhua did not immediately give any other details.

In the Vietnamese capital, about 100 protesters marched down humid streets carrying signs that read: "China stop lying. China stop invading" and "Stop violating the territorial waters of Vietnam."

Protests are extremely rare in communist Vietnam and are typically quashed quickly by security forces. Still, Hanoi has allowed the demonstrations to go on for the past four Sundays amid tight security.

"The tensions in the East Sea may escalate, but if other countries join together, the Chinese may have to back down," said Phung Thi Tram, 70, referring to the area by its Vietnamese name. She yelled "Down With China!" as she marched.

Vietnam accuses Chinese vessels of hindering oil exploration surveys in an area 200 nautical miles off its central coast that it claims as its economic exclusive zone. China says Vietnam illegally entered its waters near the disputed Spratly islands and endangered Chinese fishermen.

The two sides have a long history of maritime scrapes, mainly involving areas around the believed resource-rich Spratly and Paracel islands, which are claimed all or in part by Vietnam, China and several other Asian countries. But the current spat has become much more hostile, with both sides announcing live-fire naval drills were recently held.

Relations also have soured recently between Beijing and the Philippines over the South China Sea. Manila accuses Chinese boats of making nine intrusions into Philippine-claimed waters since Feb. 25.

The United States has said that the sea, home to key shipping lanes, is in its national interest. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. would honor its mutual defense treaty with its ally, the Philippines. She also said Washington was willing to support a collaborative, diplomatic process by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has attempted to frame a code of conduct with China.

Beijing has said all territorial disputes should be settled one-on-one with its Asian neighbors and that the United States should not be involved.

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China, Vietnam vow to cool S. China Sea tensions (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) – China and Vietnam pledged to resolve a row over the strategic South China Sea, state media said Sunday, in a bid to ease tensions that prompted accusations of Chinese bullying in the region.

The apparent olive branch between the testy neighbours came as the United States and Philippines readied for joint naval exercises in the face of Chinese actions and after the US called for Beijing to help lower the temperature.

Several recent incidents have put the security spotlight on the South China Sea, a strategic and potentially oil-rich area where China has sometimes overlapping disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Recently, Vietnam carried out live-fire drills and the Philippines ordered the deployment of its naval flagship after accusing China of aggressive actions.

Representatives of China and Vietnam met in Beijing for weekend talks and agreed to resolve their maritime territorial disputes "peacefully", China's Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

They pledged to reach a "peaceful resolution of the maritime dispute between the two countries through negotiations and friendly consultations," it said.

The joint vow was made in a meeting on Saturday between Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo, China's senior foreign-policy official, and Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son.

They agreed to take measures to "safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea", work toward an agreement on addressing maritime disputes and seek speedy implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The latter is a pact signed in 2002 between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to prevent conflict until the myriad territorial disputes are resolved.

However, the report gave no details on specific steps to be taken or a timetable.

The United States on Saturday called for China to lower tensions through dialogue as they held talks on frictions in Southeast Asia.

Senior US official Kurt Campbell said he assured China during the talks in Hawaii that the United States welcomed a strong role for Beijing, which has warned Washington against involvement in the intensifying disputes.

"We want tensions to subside. We have a strong interest in the maintenance in peace and stability, and we are seeking a dialogue among all of the key players," said Campbell, assistant secretary of state of East Asian and Pacific affairs.

China has in the past rejected calls for multi-lateral talks on the South China Sea disputes, insisting on one-on-one contacts with other claimants.

Vietnam has accused Chinese ships of recently ramming an oil survey ship and cutting the exploration cables of another.

Meanwhile, Philippine President Benigno Aquino this month accused China of inciting at least seven incidents recently, including one in which a Chinese vessel allegedly opened fire on Filipino fishermen.

As tension climbed, China staged its own three days of naval exercises in the South China Sea.

The United States has stepped into the fray, pledging to support the defence of its longtime ally the Philippines and help modernise its cash-strapped military.

"We are determined and committed to supporting the defence of the Philippines," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week.

The two countries will hold 11 days of naval exercises starting Tuesday off the southwestern Philippines in a show of unity.

Vietnam and the United States also are to hold joint naval activities next month but they were long-planned and are unconnected to the recent tensions, the US Navy has said.

The South China Sea has long been considered one of Asia's potential military flashpoints due to the overlapping claims.

That fear has risen as China has worked to upgrade its military in recent years and made more strident declarations of its claims.

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China, Vietnam agree to resolve maritime dispute (Reuters)

BEIJING, Jun (Reuters) – China and Vietnam pledged on Sunday to resolve their maritime dispute through peaceful negotiations, a sign of easing tension over rival claims in the South China Sea which is believed to be rich in oil and gas.

Relations between the old rivals have been strained over the past month because of a flare-up in a long-standing disagreement over sovereignty in the South China Sea.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo, China's foreign affairs tsar, and Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son held talks in Beijing after Ho met his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, the ministry said on its website (www.fmprc.gov.cn) said.

The two sides agreed to "peacefully resolve their maritime disputes through negotiations and friendly consultations," the ministry said.

Both sides also agreed to "strengthen public opinion guidance to prevent words and actions that would be detrimental to the friendship and mutual trust between the peoples of the two countries," it said.

"Healthy and steady development of Sino-Vietnamese relations accords with the basic interests and common aspirations of the peoples of both countries and is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development," the ministry added.

China and Vietnam have traded accusations over what each sees as intrusions into its waters in a sea crossed by major shipping lanes and thought to hold large deposits of oil and gas.

Such accusations are not uncommon between China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, which are also involved in long-standing maritime disputes.

The latest spell of tension began last month when Hanoi said Chinese boats had harassed a Vietnamese oil exploration ship. Beijing said Vietnamese oil and gas exploration undermined its rights in the South China Sea.

The two sides have conducted independent naval exercises but analysts say neither has an interest in pushing the dispute to the brink of violence.

Last week China urged the United States to leave the South China Sea dispute to the claimant states, saying U.S. involvement could make the situation worse, its most direct warning to Washington in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, navy ships from Vietnam and China held a two-day joint patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin, according to Vietnamese state media.

Two Vietnamese vessels docked in the city of Zhanjiang in China's southern Guangdong province -- the second port call by Vietnamese ships to China since 2009, Vietnamese media reported.

(Reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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China, Vietnam 'to resolve maritime row' (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) – China and Vietnam have pledged to resolve a row over competing South China Sea territorial claims "peacefully", Chinese media on Sunday quoted both sides saying after tensions spiked over the issue.

The neighbours pledged to reach a "peaceful resolution of the maritime dispute between the two countries through negotiations and friendly consultations," a report by China's official Xinhua news agency said.

The joint vow was made during talks in Beijing on Saturday between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, China's senior foreign-policy official, and Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son.

They agreed to "take effective measures to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea" and speed up talks aimed at reaching an agreement on addressing bilateral maritime disputes, Xinhua said.

But no details on specific plans or timings were given.

Besides the recent Sino-Vietnamese tensions, the Philippines has also complained of increasingly aggressive actions by Beijing in waters claimed by both nations in the strategically vital and potentially resource-rich South China Sea.

The Philippines and China -- along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam -- claim all or part of the South China Sea, and the area has long been considered one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

The United States has stepped into the fray, pledging to support the defence of its longtime ally the Philippines.

Those two countries will hold 11 days of naval exercises starting on Tuesday off the southwestern Philippines in a show of unity.

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