Socialist Republic of Vietnam

(VNA) Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ho Xuan Son on June 27 affirmed Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue, stressing the country advocates maintaining peace and stability on the East Sea.

Son made the statement in an interview with the press on a meeting between he as the Special Envoy of Vietnam’s high-level leaders and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo in Beijing on June 25.

The following is the full text of the interview:

Q: As the Special Envoy of Vietnam’s high-level leaders, you met with Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo in Beijing on June 25 to convey the Vietnamese leaders’ viewpoints on bilateral relations and the East Sea situation over the recent past to the Chinese leaders. What is the message of Vietnam’s high-level leaders?

A: Information on the visit was provided by the press and the content of the message focuses on the three following main points:

To affirm that Vietnam always attaches importance to the comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership with China under the 16-word motto and the four-good spirit. Vietnam will exert efforts to join China in promoting the two countries’ friendship more practically and efficiently for benefits of both countries’ peoples, for peace, stability, cooperation in the region and the world.

To express concern about the recent incidents in the East Sea and affirm Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue, stressing the country advocates maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea and asking concerned parties to seriously implement the “ Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea ” – DOC and solve disputes and arisen issues by peaceful measures on the basis of international laws, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. To demand both to seriously implement agreements of the two countries’ senior leaders, not to take actions to make the situation more complicated and to not let the East Sea issues affect the two countries’ relations.

To make concrete proposals to promote the two countries’ relations in the coming time such as maintaining high-level contacts, organising the fifth session of the Steering Committee on Vietnam-China cooperation in Hanoi.

Q: What are common perceptions of the two countries’ leaders on peacefully solving differences on the sea between the two countries through friendly talks and consultations?

A: The common perceptions of senior leaders of the two countries are acknowledged in the Vietnam-China joint statements issued during visits by the two countries’ senior leaders, with the latest being released in October 2008 on the occasion of the visit to China by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Accordingly, the two sides affirmed their interests in maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, “seriously abiding by the common perception of senior leaders and the spirit of the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), maintaining the mechanism of talks on issues on the sea and following principles and legal systems defined by international laws, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to seek for element and long-term solutions that the two sides may accept, actively research and discuss cooperation for mutual development.

During that period, the two sides make joint efforts to maintain stability in the East Sea without taking actions that make the situation to be more complicated or expand disputes.

The two sides agreed on the “easy first, difficult second” principle to boost cooperation in the fields of oceanography research, environmental protection, hydro-meteorological forecast, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, sea rescue and search, exchanges of visits by naval ships and building mechanism on direct exchange of information between armies of the two countries.

Q: Please reveal the progress of negotiations on the “Agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Vietnam and China ”?

A: As you know, after completing works on the demarcation of land border in late December 2008, Vietnam and China agreed to shift the focus of territorial border negotiations to sea issues.

The two sides agreed that before solving practical issues, it is necessary to negotiate to sign the Agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues. These are major and important orientations that the two sides need to observe.

In that spirit, between early 2010 and now, Vietnam and China have held six working-level rounds of negotiations. The two sides exchanged views on some basic principles such as common awareness of the two countries’ high-level leaders; international laws, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea; issues relating to Vietnam and China only are solved bilaterally and issues relating to other sides are discussed by related sides.

The seventh round of negotiations is scheduled to be held in Hanoi in the coming time./.