Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh before their talks behind closed-door on the tension in the South China Sea in Hanoi, Vietnam on Wednesday June 18, 2014. Yang’s visit is the highest-level direct dialogue between the two countries since tension flared following Chinese placement of an oil rig off Vietnam’s coast in early May. AP
HANOI — A top Chinese envoy said Wednesday that his country and Vietnam have a common desire to solve tensions in disputed waters.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi is the most senior Chinese diplomat to visit Vietnam since China’s deployment of a giant oil rig off the Vietnamese coast last month increased tensions between the neighbors.
Yang Jiechi told Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, who is also the foreign minister, that the countries are experiencing a “difficult” relationship and that promoting bilateral relations is the “common desire” of the Communist neighbors.
Minh told Yang that the meeting, the highest direct contact since the May standoff, demonstrates their desire to resolve the “complicated” situation in the South China Sea.
China and Vietnam accuse each other of ramming ships near the oil installation.
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