Vietnam says first Spratlys tour safe, more planned
HANOI - Vietnam's first-ever tour to the disputed Spratly islands, claimed by several Asian countries, passed off safely and would become a regular event, officials said on Tuesday. China, Taiwan and the Philippines questioned Hanoi's decision to let local tourists visit the disputed string of atolls and islets in the South China Sea, and Beijing registered the stiffest protest by summoning Vietnam's envoy to express its concerns.
``It was very much of a success. It's an important discovery about tourism potential... This is a safe tour,'' Duong Xuan Hoi, a senior tourism official who took part in the eight-day tour by navy ship that ended on Sunday, told Reuters.``We have no concerns about security problems because we travelled on our land and this is a normal civilian act,'' he said.
Most of the Spratlys - a cluster of rocks and reefs believed rich in oil and natural gas - are claimed in whole or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.The Chinese and Vietnamese navies clashed in the Spratlys in the late 1980s.
Some 130 Vietnamese took part in the tour, that included diving and island-hopping, Hoi said from southern Ho Chi Minh City. A date for a second tour had not yet been set, but the best time to travel was between March and May, Hoi said, adding that the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism was looking into the possibility of flights to cut the sailing time.``We would talk with Vietnam Airlines on several flights to shorten the days spent on the boat,'' he said.
To avoid upsetting the delicate status quo, the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Vietnam and the Philippines, agreed with China in 2002 on a code of conduct for dealing with the Spratlys.
Reuters - April 27, 2004
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