Deputy PM Minh holds talks with Chinese State Councilor
(VOV) - Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has requested China to withdraw its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 and escort vessels from Vietnam’s territorial waters.
Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met at the meeting of the two chairs of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Hanoi on June 18.
At the meeting, Deputy PM Binh Minh affirmed that the Vietnamese Party, State, Government and people always attach importance to preserving and further developing the neighbourliness, friendship and comprehensive cooperation with China.
Over the past years, the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and China has grown far and wide thanks to both countries’combined efforts.
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| Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi. |
However, China’s illegal placement of the oil drilling Haiyang Shiyou-981 inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf has violated international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), threatening security, maritime safety and peace and stability in the region, hurting the fleeing of the Vietnamese people and negatively impacting cooperative relations between the two nations.
Deputy PM vehemently asserted Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over EEZ and continental shelf in accordance with the 1982 UNCLOS to which both countries are members.
Deputy PM Minh demanded China pull its oil rig and escort vessels out of Vietnam’s waters, control the situation to avoid conflicts and resolve the current tensions as well as other disagreements on the basis of respect for international law and the UNCLOS.
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, in turn, reiterated the Chinese Party, Government and people’s recognition of high importance to developing friendly relations with Vietnam.
He agreed that both sides need to stabilize the situation at sea, refrain from causing conflicts and worsening bilateral relations, and join efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in an extensive and practical manner.
They consented to maintain mechanisms for exchange and cooperation between ministries, sectors, effectively implement an action plan on Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic partnership and hold the 7th meeting of the Vietnam-China Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.
Yang Jiechi was later received by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on the same day.
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| Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong (R) meets with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi. |
Trong said that Vietnam wants to boost its friendship and cooperation with China in the two people’s long-term interests and hailed positive developments in bilateral relations in recent years.
The Party leader stressed the seriousness and negative impacts of China’s deployment of drilling platform Haiyang-Shiyou 981 in Vietnam’s waters in early May on bilateral ties and the regional situation.
“Vietnam’s policy on its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes and other East Sea issue remains unchanged and unchangeable.” Trong emphasized.
He called for early measures to stabilize the situation as the precondition for future long-term solutions for marine issues based on agreements reached by senior leaders and international law, in particular the 1982 UNCLOS.
He said that the Chinese Party and Government respect and desire to develop a long-term and stable relationship with Vietnam, adding that both countries should continue negotiations to ease tension, deal with sea-related issues, and maintain exchange and cooperation to maintain stable bilateral relations.