Vietnam considers Spratlys tours
HANOI - Vietnam is considering its first-ever tours to the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea, tourism officials
said on Tuesday. The Spratlys, a cluster of dozens of submerged islets, rocks and reefs in an area believed rich in oil and natural
gas, are claimed in whole or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
"The government has agreed in principle on the proposal to set up tours," an official of Vietnam's tourism administration told
Reuters. "It has assigned the defence ministry and the tourism administration to draft the project on a trial basis."
Vietnam and China both claim the Spratlys in their entirety. Their rival claims are often an irritant in relations between the
communist neighbors and historic foes. China imposed a ban on fishing in the South China Sea from August, a decision Vietnam
vehemently opposed. Last month Vietnam said it had detained a Chinese fishing boat and its crew for illegally operating in
Vietnamese waters. The vessel and its crew were freed after five days. China and the Philippines said at the end of August they
welcomed efforts to explore and develop the Spratlys jointly.
An official in Vietnam's central Khanh Hoa province, which incorporates the Spratlys as one of its districts, said there had been no
tours to the remote islands so far. The official did not anticipate a rush for tickets. "They are too far away, it takes two days to travel
so nobody wants to travel there," she said. It was not clear what measures Vietnam would seek to protect its travellers while visiting
the islands, where Vietnam maintains a military and civilian presence.
Reuters - October 7, 2003
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