High-level dialogue between China, Vietnam to be held despite tensions
State councillor to visit Vietnam for annual meeting on bilateral cooperation, but both sides stay silent amid fears of a backlash from public
Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi will be in Hanoi this week for an annual dialogue on bilateral cooperation amid maritime tensions between the neighbours that look set to overshadow the event, a Vietnamese scholar and a source close to the foreign ministry in Hanoi say.
Yang's visit will be the highest-level meeting between the governments since China's deployment of an oil rig in disputed waters off Vietnam's coast on May 1 triggered sea confrontations that almost scuppered bilateral ties.
But in a departure from the usual practice of publicising the event well in advance, both foreign ministries have yet to make any announcement. The source, and scholars, said this underscored the trickiness of the meeting's timing; the governments had to address the issues while avoiding a possible backlash from their publics.
Yang will be in Hanoi for the latest round of meetings of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation and is expected to hold talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, according to Dr Tran Truong Thuy, director of the Institute for East Sea Studies at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
Video shows Vietnamese boat ramming Chinese ships
"This is a regular meeting on cooperation, but the main topic this time will be focused on issues in the South China Sea," Thuy said. The source close to Vietnam's foreign ministry said the meeting would be on Tuesday.