Vietnam says settling thorny China border issue
HANOI - Vietnam said on Thursday it is settling a thorny border dispute
with
its northern neighbour China through the ceremonial placement of markers
that will take place over three years.
Vietnam and China have been bickering over their 1,350 km (838 miles)
boundary for decades, and dissidents have accused the Vietnamese
government
of giving up too much land to China.
Phan Thuy Thanh, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, told
reporters on Thursday the issue was being resolved with the gradual
laying
of markers, the latest on July 13 at the western section in Lao Cai
province.
"This presents another important step forward in the process of settling
land border issues, creating favourable conditions for installing other
border markers along the entire border between Vietnam and China," she
said.
Thanh said major markers -- over 1,500 will be put up in the next three
years -- would be installed in the provinces of Ha Giang, Lai Chau and
Cao
Bang.
The border accords with China have not been made public. Dissidents say
Vietnam has made too many concessions to Vietnam's much bigger
neighbour,
which although a communist ally is also a traditional rival.
In January, Hanoi placed journalist Bui Minh Quoc under house arrest
after
he investigated the controversial border deal. Vietnam confirmed his
detention without giving a reason for it, but denied the move was to
silence
such criticism.
Reuters - July 18, 2002
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