BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China and Vietnam reached an agreement on managing their dispute in the South China Sea through friendly talks, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday (November 3) in a news briefing held in Beijing. This followed an ugly spat over the summer between the two communist neighbours.
The countries had been at loggerheads over the strategic waterway, through which more than $3 trillion in cargo passes every year, with Vietnam having emerged as the most vocal opponent of China’s claims to the majority of the regional sea.
Speaking before Chinese President Xi Jinping goes to Vietnam next week for a state visit and to attend a summit of Asia Pacific leaders, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong said national leaders of the two countries have had many “deep, frank” discussions on maritime issues and added that they “reached an important consensus.”
China and Southeast Asian countries are willing and able to handle the South China Sea issue themselves, Chen said, in an oblique reference to the United States, whose comments on the dispute and naval patrols in the waterway have angered Beijing.