China and Vietnam on 13 September 2016 agreed to properly manage their differences over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and safeguard stability. This followed as an international tribunal rejected the Chinese claims over the region on a petition brought before it by the Philippines.
The agreement was reached after talks between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Chinese premier Li Keqiang in Beijing. Phuc's visit to China is the first by a top Vietnamese leader after the tribunal verdict on 12 July 2016. The Chinese Prime Minister is known as Premier.
Earlier, China rejected The Hague-based tribunal’s verdict. The tribunal in its ruling had concluded that China does not have legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the Sea. It also said that China does not have the right to resources within its nine-dash line which extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and covers some 90 percent of the disputed waters. The ruling was based on the facts that China had no evidence to prove that it had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources.
China is now persuading other claimants - Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei - to settle the disputes bilaterally, without approaching for international arbitration.
As per reports, China and Vietnam have agreed to properly manage maritime differences and further enhance bilateral substantial cooperation.
Besides, the two leaders also saw the signing of agreements on economy and trade, production capacity, infrastructure and education.
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