~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam wants peaceful relations within region, despite Spratlys spat

HANOI - Vietnam said Tuesday it wants to build stronger relations with neighboring Asian countries and that a recent spat over the disputed Spratly Islands would not deter that process. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang reaffirmed that Vietnam has the right to take tourists to the islets after a maiden voyage of 100 Vietnamese sightseers set sail Monday on a weeklong trip there.

China, the Philippines and Taiwan have questioned or protested the move, but Bang on Tuesday said Vietnam stands firmly behind its decision."Vietnam has sovereignty on the Spratly and Paracel Islands. That is our position - this is our land. We are acting in accordance with our law," he said. "This is a civilian activity, a tourist activity on our land. This is normal."

Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the 100 or so atolls, islets and reefs scattered across the South China Sea in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The area is teeming with fish and believed rich in oil and natural gas reserves and has been a sore spot among the claimants for years.

Despite the friction, Bang stressed Vietnam's desire to build stronger, peaceful relations with other countries in the region, including strengthening its role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. In 2002, China and the members of ASEAN signed an accord to avoid armed conflict over the Spratlys. Other signatories are now questioning whether Vietnam overstepped its bounds by launching the sightseeing trip that includes scuba diving, fishing and a visit to a Vietnamese military outpost.

Bang also addressed a number of other sensitive topics during the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Hanoi, including an uprising in the Central Highlands over Easter weekend. Thousands of ethnic minority Christians flooded the streets to protest religious repression and tribal land confiscation. Vietnam has said two demonstrators were killed and dozens were injured during the clash with police.

Bang blamed the South Carolina-based Montagnard Foundation for inciting the dissent and denied reports from the group that police killed large numbers of protesters. He also acknowledged that Vietnam must wrangle with land-rights issues in the Central Highlands where much of the property was seized from ethnic minorities by the government to convert into coffee plantations.

He said such uprisings are normal growing pains in developing countries, pointing to regional examples of unrest involving separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province and violence plaguing southern Thailand's Muslim-dominated provinces. When asked why foreign journalists were banned from covering the protests or visiting the area after, Bang said it was "dangerous for journalists and foreigners to go there," but that Vietnam had "nothing to hide."

However, U.S. Ambassador Raymond Burghardt on Tuesday said a delegation from the embassy was expected to travel to the Central Highlands next week after being blocked from making a routine visit on April 10, the day the protests broke out.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said its sources in the Central Highlands reported that police beat and killed some protesters and arrested dozens of others.In 2001, similar massive demonstrations broke out in the Central Highlands, and a subsequent government crackdown prompted a major exodus into Cambodia. Nearly 1,000 Montagnards were later resettled in the United States.

By Margie Mason - The Associated Press - April 20, 2004