Vietnam distances itself from islands report which angered Beijing
HANOI - Hanoi moved to distance
itself Thursday from an official newspaper report about the disputed Spratly
islands which sparked outrage in Beijing.
The newspaper which carried the report about Vietnam's plans to set up a new
administration for the South China Sea archipelago was just "a city newspaper,"
foreign ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said.
Beijing had expressed "serious concern" about the report which appeared on
the front page of the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper of the Ho Chi Minh City
branch of the ruling communist party. The piece appeared ahead of a visit by
Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian to the commercial capital on Saturday.
The newspaper said top officials, military commanders and border guards had
met to discuss the defense of the Spratlys just as Chi held talks with communist
party chief Le Kha Phieu in Hanoi the previous day.
Thanh said Vietnam had yet to receive a request for clarification about the
report announced by her Chinese counterpart Zhu Bangzao on Tuesday.
But she said the disputed islands had long been treated just like any other part
of Vietnam administratively, forming one of eight districts of Khan Hoa province
since 1989.
Thanh repeatedly declined journalists' requests to spell out Hanoi's claim to
sovereignty over the islands.
"Vietnam's position on this issue is clear, consistent and has been stated on
many occasions," was all she would say.
The Saigon Giai Phong article had prompted a swift restatement of Beijing's
counterclaim to the islands, where the two communist neighbors clashed
militarily as recently as the late 1980s.
"China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha (Spratly) Islands and adjacent
water," Zhu told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.
"Any unilateral act on Nansha Islands by any other country infringes upon the
territorial integrity of China and is illegal and invalid."
A similar spat over the Spratlys marred a state visit to Beijing by President Tran
Duc Luong two months ago.
Vietnam holds 20 of the archipelago's uninhabited rocks and islets against
China's six, according to 1996 paper setting out Hanoi's territorial claim.
Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also maintain military garrisons while
Brunei lays claim to part of the islands.
Agence France Presse - February 15, 2001.
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