Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said yesterday that China’s placing of an oil rig in contested South China Sea waters had “seriously threatened peace.”
His speech came after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) issued a veiled warning to the US yesterday, saying countries should not build up military alliances in Asia, even as Beijing feuds with several neighbors.
Xi also called for the creation of a new Asian structure for security cooperation based on a regional group that includes Russia and Iran, and excludes the US.
Photo: EPA
Dung, speaking in Manila after meeting Philippine President Benigno Aquino, said the leaders agreed that China should be condemned by the international community for the oil rig deployment and many other illegal actions in the sea.
“With regard to the situation in the East Sea, the president and I shared the deep concerns over the current extremely dangerous situations caused by China’s many actions that violate international law,” Dung said, standing alongside Aquino at the presidential palace.
“In particular, China’s illegal placement of the oil rig Haiyang 981 and deployment of escorting vessels to protect the rig... have seriously threatened peace, stability, maritime security and safety, and freedom of navigation in the East Sea. The two sides are determined to oppose China’s violations and call on countries and the international community to continue strongly condemning China and demanding China immediately end its violations,” Dung said.
Vietnam refers to the South China Sea, which is believed to contain vast deposits of oil and gas, as the East Sea.
China claims nearly all of the sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbors, while Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia have competing claims to parts of the sea, and the disputes have for decades made it a potential trigger for conflict.
Tensions have risen in recent years as Vietnam and the Philippines have accused China of becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting its claims to the waters.
Xi, speaking at an Asian regional forum on security in Shanghai, said a rising China would seek “peaceful” means to resolve territorial disputes.
Beijing has sought to counter Washington’s foreign policy “pivot” to Asia, but it has also irritated Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines — the latter two US allies — with what those countries say are aggressive moves in separate maritime rows.
“To beef up an entrenched or military alliance targeted at a third party is not conducive to maintaining common security,” Xi said, without naming names.
China and Japan have a long-running feud over disputed islands in the East China Sea, while the Philippines accuses China of reclaiming land on a disputed reef within its exclusive economic zone under a UN convention.
However, Xi said: “China stays committed to seeking peaceful settlement of disputes with other countries over territorial sovereignty, and maritime rights and interests.”
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