China pays close attention to so-called protest in Vietnam over South China Sea
China paid close attention to the recent so-called protest in Vietnam targeting China, said Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Tuesday.
"We hope the Vietnamese government takes a responsible attitude and effective measures to stop it and avoid bilateral ties from being hurt," said Qin.
Qin made the remarks when commenting on the report on the so-called protest on Sunday in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City targeting China.
He said China had indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea and adjacent waters, and this was China's consistent stance.
He also added that China was clear about this situation.
The leaders of the two countries had exchanged views on this issue several times and agreed to settle the dispute through dialogue and consultation to safeguard the stability of the South China Sea and Sino-Vietnamese relations, he said.
Xinhua - December 11, 2007
Amid tensions over Spratlys, Vietnam seizes Chinese ships
HANOI - Vietnam has seized four vessels registered in China and Hong Kong for violating Vietnamese territorial waters, a border police officer confirmed Monday. "We captured three ships and one barge on Friday last week for violating Vietnamese waters," said Nguyen Van Khanh, head of Border Post 328 in central Quang Ngai province. "They entered Vietnamese waters without asking for Vietnam's permission."
Vietnamese press reported that two of the ships were registered in China and two in Hong Kong. They were staffed by Indonesian crews, who said they were taking the boats to Indonesia, where they planned to operate them.
The seizures come amid rising tensions between Vietnam and China regarding sovereignty over the Spratlys and the Paracels, two island chains in the South China Sea with what are believed to contain substantial petroleum reserves.
On Sunday, several hundred demonstrators staged rare public protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi and the Chinese consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Police allowed the protests for about an hour against last month's move by China to establish an official government locality to administer the Spratlys.
In a statement released Monday by Vietnam's state media, government spokesman Le Dung said the protests had not been officially orchestrated.
"This is a spontaneous act, not allowed by Vietnamese authorities," Dung said, according to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "When the incident happened, Vietnamese security forces arrived at the areas quickly to explain and to require people to stop the demonstration."
Border police officer Khanh said the 13 Indonesian crew members of the seized ships were being held for investigation.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - December 10, 2007
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