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 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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