China tries to pacify Vietnam over the South China Sea dispute

As it faces an international lawsuit over the South China Sea maritime dispute, China has tried to pacify Vietnam, another claimant of the contested waters, with an assurance to settle it through dialogue and substantial cooperation in various fields.

Beijing: As it faces an international lawsuit over the South China Sea maritime dispute, China has tried to pacify Vietnam, another claimant of the contested waters, with an assurance to settle it through dialogue and substantial cooperation in various fields.

The agreement was reached in a meeting between China's top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi to amicably settle their disputes via talks, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"The maritime issue is highly complicated and sensitive, which requires negotiations to manage and control differences," said Yu, a forth ranking leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"Magaphone diplomacy can only trigger volatility of public opinion, which should be avoided by both sides," Yu, who is in Hanoi on a three-day official visit said on Friday.

His visit comes in the backdrop of a lawsuit filed by the Philippines in the International Court under the UN Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) questioning Chinese claims over Scarborough Shoal that China calls the Huangyan islands.

The deadline of December 15 given by the tribunal for China to file a counter has passed as it refused to join the arbitration saying that the dispute should be resolved by the concerned parties.

Vietnam's foreign ministry earlier asserted Hanoi's sovereignty over the Spraley and?Paracel islands which China calls Nansha and Xisha islands in the South China Sea.

On December 12, Vietnam objected to China's stance of the nine-dash line claiming all most all of South China Sea to the Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea formed to hear the Philippines' petition.

The nine-dash line takes in about 90 per cent of the 3.5 million square kilometre of South China Sea on Chinese maps.

This boundary was first officially published on a map by China's Nationalist government in 1947 and has been included in subsequent maps issued under Communist rule.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei immediately responded stating Hanoi's claims are "illegal and invalid" and "China will never accept such claim".

Besides Vietnam and Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also question China's claims over the South China Sea which in recent years has become a bitter dispute.

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