On Wednesday, China's top diplomat had scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi for the latter "hyping up" the row over an oil rig set up in the disputed waters in the South China Sea. Reuters said the Chinese official's comments suggest that relations between the two countries would remain rocky due to territorial claims.
Aside from calling out Vietnam for its supposed overreaction over the Chinese development, State Councilor Yang Jiechi also told his hosts that the activities being conducted by the drilling company who owns the oil rig are completely legal, at least under China law, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily briefing in Beijing.
Yang outrank the mainland's foreign minister. Yang's remarks were reportedly made during a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
Ahead of the scheduled meeting, experts have said that there would be a lot of obstacles needed to go through in order to resolve what is considered to be one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations from the time the neighboring countries were engaged in a short border war back in 1979.
Describing Yang's comments, Hua said, "The most urgent thing is for Vietnam to stop its interference and harassment, stop hyping up the issue and stop whipping up disagreement to create new disputes, and properly deal with the aftermath of the recent serious incidents of violence."
Vietnam has maintained that the installation of the oil rig is illegal based on the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and that the development was built on its continental shelf. China, on the other hand, insists that the rig is operating within its waters near Paracel Islands.
Hua explained, "State Councilor Yang Jiechi said China and Vietnam's relations are facing difficulties at the moment because for more than a month, Vietnam has been continually illegally harassing Chinese drilling operations in the waters near the Paracel Islands. Yang stressed that the Paracel Islands are China's inherent territory and that there exists no dispute about this."
